


Ascension

by Aeon_Wolf



Series: Redemption [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Also included, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, Background Relationship - Sanvers, But not major characters, F/F, I'm not bashing on Mon-El, J'onn J'onzz - Freeform, Lucy Lane - Freeform, james olsen - Freeform, kind of soulmates, more details inside, slowburn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-09-26 22:31:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 51,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9925703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeon_Wolf/pseuds/Aeon_Wolf
Summary: Demos Educational Organization was like no other college Lena could have imagined. Instead of reading, math, and science, they were taught Ancient Greek, War Strategy, and Swordsmanship. Lena, shocked to find out her true parentage strikes friendships left and right at her new school. Her most treasured friendship of all, her friendship with one Daughter of Zeus, Kara Danvers. Follow Lena on a journey of self-discovery in an attempt to foil the plot of the Titans, and maybe learn a few things about herself along the way.OrA PJO inspired Supercorp series. Part One: Ascension.





	1. A New Life

I.

Lena was dropped off at the entrance to Demos Educational Organization. A college that until recently, she didn’t know existed. She stared up at the large building in front of her, closed off by some large, almost intimidating looking fences. Her driver helped her get her things out of the car, offering to help her inside. But Lena just waved him off. “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure I can manage.” The man nodded, tipping his hat to the youngest Luthor.

When Lena had been scouting out colleges her junior year of high school, Lionel had stopped her almost immediately.

“Lena.” He sat her down one afternoon after she arrived home from school. He handed her a brochure. She accepted it, giving it a once over. It seemed to be a brochure for a college, Demos Educational Organization. An odd name for a college, but she just shrugged it off. “I know that you’re smart enough to get into pretty much any college you want to, but it was the wish of your birth mother for you to go here.” A 16-year-old Lena Luthor met Lionel’s gaze. He rarely spoke of her birth family. She wanted to ask how he knew that, but she knew better than to question.

“But what about…” Lena started, but Lionel cut her off, knowing what she was going to ask.

“Lillian won’t be an issue. I’ll be discussing this with her later.” Lena nodded curtly.

“How do you know I’ll get accepted?” She asked him. He just chuckled.

“Trust me, dear, they won’t turn you away.” He said, giving her a knowing look. Lena blinked but accepted the answer. She figured it was because she was a Luthor. No college would probably dare turn away such an influential family. She did wonder, however, why she was being sent to Demos when Lex had gone to Harvard. But again, she didn’t question it. In the back of her mind, she figured it was because she wasn’t a _real_ Luthor.

“Hey! You new here?” Lena was startled out of her thoughts to see a guy with messy brown hair and a friendly smile on his face. Lena nodded, offering him her hand. He took it and gave her a firm shake.

“I’m Winn! Winn Schott. I’m a junior here.” He said. “You are?” He asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Lena Luthor.” She waited for the realization to dawn on him of who he was talking to, but it never came. He just nodded.

“Well Lena, since I caught you out here, do you want help with your stuff? Or something? Do you know where you’re headed?” Lena shook her head.

“I’m afraid I don’t know much. My acceptance letter just said welcome and all the normal pleasantries. And that someone would show me around when I got to campus.” She said with a shrug. Winn nodded.

“Ah. I remember my first day.” He chuckled as if he was sharing a private joke with himself. “Well, first you’ll probably want to go see Headmaster J’onn. He’ll walk you through orientation. And get you set up.” Lena nodded, frowning slightly.

“Does the headmaster do that for every student?” She inquired as Winn bent down to pick up one of her bags. He nodded when he straightened back up.

“Yeah. If you didn’t already know, we’re a pretty… exclusive college. We don’t get too many new students and J’onn wants to get to know all of us personally.” Winn replied as Lena went to pick up the rest of her bags.

“Oh. That’s nice of him.” Lena said as she followed Winn past the gates. Winn grinned.

“Yeah, J’onn’s awesome. Just wait. I’m sure you’ll end up loving it here. Never want to go home.” Winn said brightly. Lena grimaced, knowing all how true that probably was. She enjoyed Lionel’s presence, but he was gone on business more often than not and ever since Lex had gone off to college, it was just Lena and Lillian. And to say that Lillian didn’t like Lena was an understatement.

The two chatted about arbitrary topics for the duration of the walk to the headmaster’s office. Winn was talking to her about the new student dorm. “Baker Hall is pretty nice.” He said with a shrug. “A little crowded at times, but it’s not too bad. Hopefully, you’ll be moved out of there soon.” Lena raised an eyebrow but didn’t question it. Hopefully, the headmaster would be able to answer some of the questions she was starting to develop after her conversation with Winn.

“Well, here we are!” Winn said as the pair stopped outside a large wooden door. Winn just opened the door without knocking. “Hey J’onn, Lena Luthor is here!” He said, beckoning for Lena to follow him. She walked into the office, putting on the Luthor air of presence. Before her sat a tall black man, with hard but kind eyes. He nodded at Winn.

“Thank you, Mr. Schott, I can take it from here.” Winn nodded, setting Lena’s suitcase down, turning to the woman.

“Come find me later! I can introduce you to some of my friends.” He said brightly before leaving and shutting the door behind him. The headmaster gestured for her to sit down in a chair facing him, which she did. He blinked, looking at her as if appraising her.

“So, welcome to Demos Educational Organization, Ms. Luthor. DEO for short. I’m sure you’re wondering why you’ve never heard of this school until your father brought it up.” Lena nodded in response. “Tell me Ms. Luthor, have you ever found yourself seeing and experiencing things that you know are impossible? Seen monsters that are only found in myth. I’m going to hazard a guess that you’ve been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia.”

“No, sir. Actually, I haven’t been.” J’onn frowned slightly but nodded.

“Interesting. You’ll be one of the first students here who hasn’t been.” Lena frowned. Was she at a school for the mentally disabled? As if being able to read her mind, J’onn spoke again.

“Rest assured, you’re in the right place. Tell me, what do you know of Greek Mythology?” Lena shrugged.

“Maybe about as much as the average person. We had a section in one of my English classes in high school about it. But not much else.” Lena said, wondering where this conversation was going.

“And if I told you that it wasn’t all a myth. That everything was real?” Lena furrowed her brow.

“I’d say you were probably nuts,” Lena replied. J’onn laughed.

“That’s what I said too when I was your age. But believe me, it’s all real.” Lena gave J’onn a skeptical look. “I see you’re someone who needs a bit more of a demonstration.” J’onn furrowed his brow in concentration.

Lena’s jaw dropped when the headmaster was suddenly enveloped in a glowing aura, flickering a fiery red color. He then opened one of the drawers of his desk, taking a small knife out of it. Before Lena could stop him, he thrust it into his hand. Lena watched as the knife bounced right off the aura, coming away bent before the aura faded. “The Blessing of Ares,” J’onn said. “A gift from my father, given to those that have demonstrated great courage. It makes me invulnerable for a short time, hence the bent knife. I can assure you Ms. Luthor, the more you see of the school, the more you will believe that I am telling you the truth.”

Lena bit her lip. In all honesty, it made sense to her. It would explain all the odd creatures that she had seen throughout her life. She had never talked to anyone about it because if word got out that the Luthor’s youngest daughter was seeing things, well. Lillian would have her head. So she kept quiet about it. Lena just nodded.

“I can see that.” She said. “So you’re saying…” Lena trailed off and J’onn nodded.

“One of your parents was a Greek God. Yes. From what I understand, you don’t know your birth parents?” Lena shook her head.

“No, they were killed and I was adopted by the Luthors when I was four. Lionel did say though that my birth mother wanted me to come here, though if that helps?” Lena offered. J’onn shrugged.

“It’s possible that your mother was your godly parent. But sometimes the gods will leave mention of the school imprinted in their minds as well. Hopefully, sometime in the next few weeks, you’ll be claimed by your godly parent. For now, though, you’ll be put in Baker Hall with the rest of the unclaimed. Your dorm advisor is going to be Lucy Lane. She’s the oldest of the unclaimed. She’ll walk you through the day to day procedures. But until then…” He trailed off, getting up and walking over to the door opening it and beckoning someone inside.

In stepped a tall woman with reddish brown hair. Lena stood up to greet the newcomer who offered Lena her hand. Lena accepted and shook the woman’s hand. It was a surprisingly strong grip, but Lena held her ground. “Ms. Luthor, this is Alex Danvers. She’ll be giving you a tour around the campus while we get a few things straightened out for you. Please, leave your luggage. We’ll see to it that it gets put in your new room.” Lena nodded, following Alex out the door.

“So, new blood, huh?” Alex asked. Lena nodded.

“I guess so.” Lena had so many questions, but she had no idea of what the protocol for asking them was. Was it rude to ask who a person’s godly parent was? Alex could obviously see the questions written on Lena’s face.

“I’m a daughter of Athena if you were wondering. Which you were from the look on your face.” Lena looked a little sheepish. “Don’t worry. You’ll eventually know the parentage of everyone here. There’s not a lot of us and you’ll figure it out eventually, about everyone.” Alex said reassuringly.

The two walked around the campus, Alex pointing out various different things to Lena. “So basically while you’re unclaimed, you’re going to be put into some basic classes so you can find your strengths and interests.” She said as the pair walked past the shooting ranges where there were a couple of people with a bow and arrow, shooting at the targets.

“If or when you’re claimed, you’ll be put into some more specialized classes to hone your innate abilities. Like if your father is Ares, you’ll be put in more combat and war strategy classes.” Alex said. She said something else, but Lena’s attention was drawn elsewhere. In a nearby sparring arena was a blonde haired woman with a large broadsword, fighting a tall, brown haired male.

The male seemed to be all brute strength, charging in against the blonde who was able to meet him blow for blow, and even repel his attack before he charged again. Lena’s focus was on the girl, who was so graceful in her movements, spinning and swinging a sword that almost looked too heavy for her to pick up, let alone use. Alex followed Lena’s line of sight and smiled.

“Ah. Watching my sister spar with Mon-El. It’s always an interesting thing to behold.” Lena looked at Alex.

“She’s your sister?” Lena asked, looking back at the girl.

“Yeah, that’s Kara. Danvers. A daughter of Zeus.” Lena raised an eyebrow. “I know what you’re thinking. And Kara is adopted. Her family was killed and she was adopted by my family. You’ll probably meet them sometimes, they’re teachers here.” Alex said with a shrug. Lena looked back at Kara who was now pressing an attack against Mon-El.

“She’s good,” Lena remarked and Alex nodded.

“She’s been practicing for a long time,” Alex replied as they watched Kara push Mon-El back, before advancing, their blades meeting again, but this time, Kara twisted her sword, wrenching his out of his grip, disarming him. Kara stepped back, proud of herself, looking over to see her sister. She smiled and waved at her sister before noticing Lena standing next to her. Kara tilted her head to the side for a second, looking at Lena before giving her a warm smile, waving at her too. Lena was surprised at the girl’s friendliness but waved back shyly.

She and Alex proceeded to walk over to Baker Hall, where Lena would be living. Lucy Lane, the dorm advisor was waiting for the two in the lobby. “Hey, Alex. Thanks for showing new girl around. I’ve got it from here.” Alex nodded.

“I’ll see you around Lena. Hope you enjoy it here. Don’t be a stranger.” Alex said before leaving the two girls.

“So, I’m guessing J’onn and Alex got you all caught up?” Lucy asked and Lena nodded.

“Yeah, mostly.”

“Good,” Lucy said curtly. “Your room is on the second floor, room 5. Your stuff has been brought up there already. Your schedule should be on the desk, classes start on Monday. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to come find me.” Lucy said, giving Lena a grin. “Welcome to Demos.” Lena nodded, thanking Lucy before making her way to her room.

She quickly found it, opening the door, and indeed, all her belongings were there already. Lena sighed, walking over to the desk and picking up the piece of paper that was on it. She sat on the bed to examine it. Classes like _Ancient Greek_ and _Swordsmanship_. If someone had asked Lena a year ago about how her college life was going to be, this was not how she pictured it. Lena laid back on the bed, closing her eyes. It was going to be a long year.

II.

Later that evening at dinner, Lena wandered over to the cafeteria. She noticed a large brazier outside with an open flame. Lucy had told Lena earlier about it. At meals, students would sacrifice food to the gods, apparently, they liked the smell. Sometimes they offered some prayers to the gods that they hoped to be answered. Lena was a little skeptical about it, never having been religious in her life, but since everyone else was doing it, she figured she probably should too.

After she grabbed some food, she walked over to the brazier and threw in a large bunch of grapes. In her heart, she prayed that she would be claimed. Like all the other unclaimed prayed daily. That someday she would know where she belonged. Lena looked up at the sky, turning orange as the sun set.

Lena found herself wandering over to an empty spot on the quad in the middle of campus. She set her plate down on a low wall, hopping up to sit on it. As she ate her food, she watched the sun set on her first day at Demos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I might have lied about what my next project was going to be. So sit tight while I explain and sorry about the long note.
> 
> I was planning on doing a Soulmate AU, but I decided after 2x12 that I wanted to see where Lena’s storyline ends up because my plans for my soulmate AU are fairly tied to canon. So I wanted to wait on that one. So I wanted to pick another project.
> 
> And that’s where this came from. I wrote the outline to this story about six months ago or so, for a different ship that I was writing about at the time. But as I’ve really been writing exclusively about Supercorp for the last couple of months, I decided I wanted to repurpose that outline for Supercorp. And in all honesty, the storyline actually fits this pairing better than the original pairing it was written for.
> 
> That being said, this is going to be a very Lena centric story. It details her coming into her heritage and follows her journey. Supercorp will be the main pairing, but it’s going to be a slowburn relationship and as I already know there’s going to be a sequel, well. I’ll let you figure out where their relationship it going to be at the end of this part.
> 
> Sanvers is going to be a background pairing here, hence why it’s not tagged as a main pairing, because I’m not focusing on it that much. Also, if you’re looking for a story that’s going to bash Mon-El, you might not be reading the right story. I’m not going to go into detail here, inbox me on Tumblr if you’d like further explanation, but he’s going to have a pretty large role here. Of all the characters I’ve written, he’s probably going to be the most OOC from canon because while I really want to like him, his character is written in such a way that I just can’t support him. So I tried to fix his character writing.
> 
> Some small housekeeping details of canon deviation: Ignore that Lionel is Lena’s birth father. Lena is indeed 2 years younger than Kara here, 18 vs 20. I’ve aged everyone up from typical canon ages of Percy Jackson for convenience. In my story, one’s godly powers tend to start manifesting around college, rather than middle/high school. The canon events of PJO haven’t happened, hence why I don’t refer to this as a crossover, rather a PJO inspired Supercorp story.
> 
> I think that’s enough rambling. If you guys have any further questions (that I can answer without spoiling things) please inbox me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com. I’d love to try to answer any questions you might have!


	2. Introduction

I.

Lena found herself having little trouble adjusting to her new life. At least the routine of her new life. She woke up every morning, glancing at her schedule to see what kind of classes she had that day. She found herself enjoying a few of them to her surprise. She wasn’t entirely sold on some of them though. The _ Basics of Archery  _ class, she was absolutely terrible at. Everyone joked that she probably wasn’t Apollo’s daughter with how bad she was, which suited her just fine. 

However, she did find herself enjoying War Strategy as well as Ancient Greek. Particularly Ancient Greek, though not really because she was into the language. It was because she had a friend in the class. 

In the first few weeks, Lena did find herself having a difficult time integrating herself into the community. Lena had never been a particularly social person, to begin with, and with a school as small as Demos, all the groups were pretty much already established. There were a few other freshman that had arrived at Demos for the new year, but she never found herself connecting with them either. And although she knew she had a standing invite from Winn to hang out with him, she didn’t want to impose. So she pretty much kept to herself. She didn’t really mind that too much, but it did get lonely at times. 

So after the first couple of weeks, when a senior named Maggie Sawyer started sitting next to her in Ancient Greek, she was pretty happy. Maggie had said that she noticed how Lena always sat alone in the class and wanted to include her. Lena was grateful for her new friend, who she found out was a senior and in a beginning level Ancient Greek class because she kept putting it off. 

Today was no different, Maggie plopping herself down next to Lena, pulling out one of their textbooks, waiting for the teacher to arrive. “Hey, Little Luthor.” Maggie greeted her young friend. Lena smiled, waving to Maggie. “How much do you want to bet that teach is going to be late today?” Maggie wiggled her eyebrows and Lena chuckled. Maggie was a daughter of Nike, the goddess of victory, and one of the traits that Maggie had obviously adopted from her mom was her love for competition. 

“How about, if I’m right, you come sit with me and Alex today at lunch?” Maggie said. The Latina woman was always trying to get Lena to socialize more, but Lena always came up with excuses as to why she couldn’t. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Maggie, just she didn’t want to be a burden. But Lena was also not one to back down from a challenge either.

“You’re on, Sawyer,” Lena said and Maggie pumped her fist. 

“Yes! You are going down, Luthor.” Maggie teased. Lena just rolled her eyes at her friend’s competitiveness. Back home, Lena probably never would have been friends with someone like Maggie, but being at Demos, she learned to enjoy the vast differences between everyone. Lena admired Maggie’s friendliness and determination. 

“So, how have the first couple of weeks been, Little Luthor?” Maggie asked her friend. Lena just shrugged. 

“I’m getting adjusted. It’s been helpful to keep my days busy.” Lena replied. 

“Made many new friends? Except yours truly of course.” Maggie grinned, pointing to herself. Lena chuckled. 

“No, not really. I’ve mostly kept to myself.” Lena admitted. Maggie’s gaze softened a little bit.

“Well, we’re going to have to remedy that. And look at that, teach is late. Which means you have to sit with me and Alex at lunch today.” Lena groaned. Though internally she was a little excited at the prospect. 

II.

After Ancient Greek, Maggie nearly pulled Lena to a table where she and Alex always sat, along with, to Lena’s surprise, Winn, James Olsen, another son of Athena, Mon-El, and Alex’s sister, Kara Danvers. Lena and Maggie had grabbed their food before heading over to the table, so Maggie plopped down next to Alex, placing a kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek, gesturing to a chair next to her. 

Lena sat down, now sandwiched in between Maggie and Kara Danvers. “Hey group, this is my new friend from Ancient Greek, Lena.” The raven haired woman smiled shyly. Winn seemed to remember Lena and waved. 

“Hey Lena! Fancy seeing you here.” He said brightly. Lena nodded, as James looked at her. 

“James Olsen, son of Athena. Nice to meet you.” He said cordially. Lena returned the greeting. Lena looked curiously over at Kara and Mon-El who was seated next to her. Kara smiled brightly at the newcomer. 

“I’m Kara! Danvers. I remember you. You were watching me and Mon-El spar.” She said, casually pointing to the guy sitting next to her, who flicked his head upward in greeting as his mouth was full of food. Kara glared at him. “Don’t mind him, he’s the least well mannered of all of us.” Lena chuckled at the jest as Mon-El quickly swallowed. 

“Hey! I resent that Kara.” He said indignantly. Kara just shrugged as James spoke up.

“She’s right though man. Son of Ares and all. You just tend to be the most hot-headed. Just stating the facts.” Mon-El’s eyes narrowed at James playfully. 

“Don’t think we don’t all remember when you, Mr. Perfect, got drunk as a skunk and ended up kissing Alex. Who is your half sister and she slapped the shit out of you after.” He said. James just lifted a finger to flip Mon-El off while everyone else watched the exchange. No one was stepping in, so Lena assumed that this was a normal occurrence. 

Kara leaned over to her, whispering in her ear, “Don’t mind them. They’ve always felt the need to one-up each other, even when we were freshmen.” Lena nodded, looking back at the boys who were still trading playful barbs. It was apparent that the two did this quite frequently if the looks on everyone’s faces was any clue. Alex had an arm around Maggie, who was curled up to her side, just watching the two. Winn was interjecting every so often, putting his own input in on the argument. And Kara was sitting back in her chair, watching the show. Lena picked at her donut, smiling to herself. “So, any clue who your parent is?” Kara asked, turning her attention back to Lena. The girl just shrugged. 

“Not a clue. I was adopted, so I don’t even know if it’s my mom or dad.” Lena said sadly. Kara nodded, sympathy in her eye. 

“I know how you feel. I was adopted too, by the Danvers. I mean, I knew my dad was Zeus because he was the one that asked Alex’s parents to take me. But I know what you mean about the adoption thing.” Kara rambled. Lena turned her head fully to face Kara and got a little lost in her deep blue eyes. 

“So I was wondering. I know we don’t have any classes together, but if you wanted help with Swordsmanship, I’d be happy to help!” Lena heard the tail end of the offer and she nodded without realizing what she was agreeing to. “Awesome! Let me know when you’ve got a free period. This is so exciting. I haven’t gotten to help an underclassmen with the sword in forever!” Lena found herself laughing at Kara’s excitement. She wasn’t completely sold on the sword yet, though she hadn’t been to more than a handful of classes where they hadn’t even picked up a sword yet. They were still going through technique, safety, and handling. 

The bell dinged, signaling the end of lunch. The group groaned before packing up their stuff. Kara turned to Lena. “What do you have next?” She asked. Lena shrugged. 

“I’ve got a free period,” Lena said as Kara’s face lit up. 

“So do I! And so does Mon-El. Want to come hang out at the fight pit with us? You don’t have to get involved if you don’t want to. Or if you’re not free, don’t worry about it. Just, you seemed to be pretty interested last time.” Kara rambled before Lena took pity and cut her off. 

“I’d love to Kara. Just let me drop my books at my dorm and I’ll meet you over there?” Lena asked and Kara smiled, nodding. To Lena’s surprise, Kara threw her arms around her new friend. Lena stiffened up slightly, not used to the physical contact, nor Kara’s strong squeeze. Kara immediately felt Lena stiffen up and let go. 

“Oh! I’m sorry! I didn’t even ask. And you’re not used to the Zeus super strength yet. Oh man. I really am sorry…” Kara trailed off awkwardly. Lena just brushed her off. 

“Don’t worry about it Kara, I was just surprised. That’s all.” Kara sighed in relief. 

“Oh okay. I’ll warn you next time. Anyways, I’ll see you down there?” Kara asked and Lena nodded. “Great!” Kara turned to Mon-El. “C’mon you, we need to work on your footwork.” She said, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him away. Lena chuckled at the sight but finished up gathering her own things and hurried back to her dorm.

III. 

Lena approached the fight pit, seeing Kara with her broadsword swinging at Mon-El, who blocked Kara’s swing with his blade. She watched the two trade blows for a minute before Kara noticed Lena. She held up a hand to Mon-El to get him to stop. She said something to him before he nodded and went off to grab a drink. Kara flounced up to Lena, dragging her sword behind her. “Hey, Lena! You came.” Kara said happily. Lena couldn’t help the smile that formed on her face. 

“I told you I would, didn’t I?” Lena teased. Kara shrugged. 

“Yeah. Indeed you did. So, do you want to pick up a sword and give it a shot? I’ll go easy on you.” Lena scoffed and shook her head. 

“No thanks Kara, maybe later.” Lena, from the small glimpse that Kara had given her, knew that Kara was really good and she stood no chance. “Maybe after we actually pick up a sword in class.” Lena reassured the blonde who had pouted when Lena rejected her offer. But perked right up. 

“Oh right! You are still a freshmen, aren’t you? Wow, I totally forgot. I mean, I know I said I knew you were an underclassmen earlier, but yeah.” Kara said awkwardly. “So you’re 18, right?” Kara asked curiously and Lena nodded. “Okay cool. I’m 20, if you were wondering.” Kara said with a shrug. Lena had figured Kara was somewhere around that age if she was a junior. 

“So, what’s being a daughter of one of the Big Three like?” Lena inquired. Kara shrugged. 

“It’s… different. I guess. Weird I suppose, since they weren’t supposed to have kids, since we tend to be overly powerful. But I guess it is what it is.” Kara said. 

“What makes you more powerful?” Lena asked curiously. “If you’re okay with answering that question. I’m still not a hundred percent sure on what is considered too personal.” Lena said sheepishly. Kara just brushed her off. 

“Don’t worry about it. I get most of the questions at least once a semester. And it’s mostly the intensity of our powers. There’s nothing about them individually the makes us more powerful. Like, I have aerokinesis. There are some kids on Hephaestus that have pyrokinesis, but my elemental manipulation is more powerful than theirs. I can even manipulate air currents and fly on clouds.” Kara said excitedly. “I may also have Hercules level strength,” Kara said afterward, in almost a whisper. Lena’s eyes widened. No wonder Kara was worried about hurting her with the hug earlier. 

“Oh. Is that rare?” Kara nodded. 

“I’m the first one to have it since Hercules himself,” Kara said, almost proudly. Lena smiled. 

“That’s really cool.” 

“Are you looking forward to being claimed?” Kara asked curiously. Lena shrugged. 

“I guess. Don’t you always when you’re unclaimed? I don’t know how Lucy copes really.” Lena confessed. Kara nodded. 

“I’ve known Lucy for a while, it took her a long time to come to terms with it. But she’s made her peace. I’m sure your parent, whoever they are will claim you eventually. You’re too awesome to not want.” Kara said earnestly. Lena’s heart melted a little bit. She hadn’t ever had anyone in her life that had said something like that to her. And Kara barely knew her. Kara looked like she was going to add more, but Mon-El had returned and was calling out to her. Kara gave Lena an apologetic look. 

“Don’t worry, go. I’ll be content watching you kick his ass.” Lena teased. Kara chuckled, but gave Lena a thumbs up and went back over to Mon-El. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to wait until Wednesday or so to post this chapter, but what can I say? I'm impatient. So we finally get to introduce Lena to all her new friends. I've always loved the idea of Lena being really close with Maggie. And not just because of their connection with the Danvers sisters. That helps them bond over another thing, but they're both independent women with their own inner struggles and demons over their past. They come from completely different walks of life, but that's what allows them to ground each other. 
> 
> Next chapter will be Lena's claiming as well as establishing friendships a little bit more. I'm pretty sure no one will get her godly heritage right (just watch, someone is probably going to guess correctly because I said that), but feel free to have a guess! I'd really love to know where you all headcanon Lena. It's not going to change my story, but tell me anyways. I'll explain more in the next chapter about why I picked the god I did. As to not spoiler the big reveal of course. 
> 
> Feel free to come scream at or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	3. Heritage

I.

Lena continued this habit for the next week or so. She would go about her morning, sometimes sitting next to Kara and company at breakfast before going to her morning classes. Then meeting up with Maggie in Ancient Greek, fooling around in the back of the classroom until their teacher scolded them. And she would join everyone at lunch. Lena had never felt more at home than she did when she was with everyone. They all seemed to be really accepting of her. Especially Kara, Mon-El, and Winn. 

Winn would sometimes engage her in chatter about the next tech thing he was building. The son of Hephaestus loved to invent new things and while Lena couldn’t always understand everything he was talking about, she enjoyed listening to him talk with such enthusiasm. Occasionally inputting her own ideas when she could.

Alex and Maggie usually kept to the sidelines of the group, usually talking to each other, but sometimes would engage Lena in conversation. Maggie tended to talk with her a lot in Ancient Greek, so lunch was dedicated to letting the others monopolize Lena’s time and gave Maggie an opportunity to spend time with her girlfriend. James was much the same. He seemed to be the most reserved of the group, preferring to sit back and listen. 

The friendship that surprised her most of all was her budding friendship with Mon-El. He seemed like the typical frat boy that she probably would have gone to college with if she had gone to a normal college. But she had to admit, he was more than met the eye. While he did have that side of him, he was deceptively intelligent about things that he was passionate about. He would sometimes help her with her War Strategy coursework, giving her a different perspective on it than Alex or James would. Which Lena appreciated. While Alex and James were obviously very good at War Strategy being children of Athena, Mon-El had a different approach than they did. Often the brute strength route which didn’t always work. But Lena liked to get mixed opinions on things so she could combine them and make something new. So she would ask all three people for their input most of the time.

And then, of course, there was Kara. Lena had to admit, she probably treasured Kara’s friendship the most. Kara’s face always lit up when Lena approached the group, and she was always the one to stand up and hug her, usually asking before she did. Kara would always invite her to hang out during their shared free period. And sometimes after classes were over for the day and the entire group went to do something, Kara was always the one to invite Lena along, though obviously, no one else protested. Lena was a part of the pack now. 

Kara always offered to help Lena train with a sword, though Lena kept shooting her down. Kara would pout for a minute but always jump up and say “next time!” Lena was endeared by Kara’s eternal sunshine. It was a wonder that Kara wasn’t a child of Apollo. 

With each passing week, Lena became less and less concerned about being claimed. Of course, she hoped she would eventually be claimed, but at first, it was because she wanted to fit in. And now she had a close group of friends that made her feel welcome. She didn’t dwell on her parentage as much as she once did.

“Hey Lena, watching Kara and Mon-El again?” Lena looked in the direction of the voice to see James take a seat next to her. She nodded. Out of the entire group, she talked with James the least. It wasn’t that she didn’t like him, just they were both the quiet and solitary sort of individual, so they just never really chatted much. 

“Kara’s really good,” Lena remarked, echoing her words to Alex on her first day. “And Mon-El seems to be getting better.” She added remembering his skills when he first saw them fight. James looked over and watched Mon-El swing at Kara, who dodged his attack. 

“Yeah, they are. I remember when Mon-El first came here. He was hopeless. We were all surprised that he was a son of Ares. They’re usually supposed to be good at combat you know. But he was terrible. Always thinking with his muscles instead of his head.” Lena nodded, being able to see that in a less refined Mon-El. He still had a little bit of that she could tell when he would help her with War Strategy. 

“Is that why Kara is helping him?” James nodded. 

“In part. Kara also feels a level of kinship to him that she doesn’t share with some of the others.” Lena tilted her head to the side curiously. And James continued. “I don’t know what Kara told you about where she came from, but her city was destroyed by a rogue monster. She’s never told anyone which one, though. She lost everything before she was taken by Zeus and brought to the Danvers.” 

Lena glanced over at Kara, who had sweat dripping down her bicep. “You sure you should be telling me this? Like, shouldn’t she tell me herself?” Lena asked. 

“It’s painful for her to talk about. She asked me to talk to you about it. She doesn’t like to relive the memories, but said that as a part of the group, you deserved to know.” James replied. Lena bit her lip, looking over at Kara, who glanced her direction and smiled. “But Mon-El’s family and town were destroyed in much the same way. They bonded over it. They’re really the best of friends now.” James said. “Not that Kara isn’t really close with all of us, especially her sister. But there’s something unique about her relationship with Mon-El.” 

Lena nodded, understanding how Kara could feel that way. And while Lena couldn’t understand herself what they felt like, her heart ached for her friends. It must have been horrible. For both of them. “Thanks, for telling me, James.” The man nodded, placing a hand on Lena’s shoulder. 

“No problem. She really likes you, you know. Kara. She’s always been her usual sunshiny self, but ever since you came here, it’s been a whole new level. So I’m glad you’re here. I know we don’t talk much, outside of homework of course, but if you ever want to, you know where to find me.” He said with a nod. Lena gave James a lopsided smile, nodding back.

II.

One thing that Lena did enjoy was books. She loved to read. Sometimes she would decide to spend her free period on her own, on the quad with a book. One such day, Lena had decided to sit in the grass, in the sunlight with a book. Her aviators over her eyes, laying stomach down in the warm grass. 

Elsewhere on campus, Kara was plotting. Not in an evil way. But she had roped Mon-El and Winn into helping her. “Guys, Lena hasn’t been through group initiation yet!” Kara said quietly though the raven-haired girl was nowhere within earshot. 

“Well, we can’t deny her that!” Winn said with a smirk while Mon-El just laughed. He had gotten to know Lena well enough to know that she was going to hate it. But it was like the right of passage in their group. Every time they added someone new, Kara took it upon herself to sneak up on them while they’re unaware, tackle them and engage in a tickle fight. But while he knew that Lena would hate it, a part of him really want to see what Lena was going to do to Kara. He had eyes. And even if the two didn’t know it yet, he could see what was starting to develop between them. 

Winn was a little wary of jumping Lena like that, but also knew it was tradition. He had come to really like Lena. She would listen to him geek out about tech, even when she didn’t understand a thing. The only other person that really listened to him like that was James. Kara too sometimes, but with her hyperactivity, it made it a little hard sometimes. So they usually did more active things together. Lena was smart and nice, though a little shy and quiet. He suspected that she was a daughter of Athena. 

There was actually a pool going around the group of who Lena’s parent was. Maggie had started it, obviously, her competitive streak not being able to resist. Winn, Alex, and James all had their money on Athena. Lena was too smart to not be a daughter of Athena. Though Maggie decided to go with Aphrodite, saying that a girl that hot (to the ire of her girlfriend) couldn’t be from a different dorm. 

Mon-El went with Hades. Another child of the Big Three. The entire group said that was the most unlikely of all the choices people had picked. But Mon-El stood by it. While Lena visibly enjoyed being with the group, she also tended to be the solitary and quiet one too. She was also very independent from some of the discussions he had with her. She shared the calm and cool demeanor with the God of Death and Mon-El could almost feel the power radiating from her. Far more than a child of a lesser God. 

And that left Kara to guess Hermes. When she talked to Lena, she confided in her that she was also sort of the outcast back home and that she always had a knack for her persuasive streak, both hallmarks of the God of Travelers. But Lena still had yet to be claimed, so the bet went on. 

So the three went on a search for Lena. They eventually did find her laying in the grass on the quad with a book, completely unaware of her surroundings. “This is too perfect!” Kara squealed quietly to the two men. Since it was Kara’s thing, they weren’t going to join her, but both Mon-El and Winn wanted to see what was going to happen. 

So they waited and Kara slowly approached Lena from behind. Kara snuck up to Lena very quietly, managing to get within a few feet of her without being detected. And all of the sudden Kara yelled, to get Lena’s attention. And then pounced. 

III. 

Lena was enjoying her book in peace, lazily enjoying a Friday afternoon when she heard a loud yell behind her. She jumped, extremely startled and turned around to see Kara Danvers about to pounce on her. Lena yelped, putting her hands in front of her face, her eyes tightly closed. 

There was a bright flash of light that Lena could make out, even from behind her closed eyes with a bang. Lena had braced for a body to collide with hers, but one never came. So she cautiously opened her eyes to see Kara sprawled out on the grass a few feet from her, laying on her back. She panicked, hoping that she hadn’t hurt her friend and quickly got up to make her way over to Kara. She was so focused on the blonde that she failed to notice the entire student population that had seen the event was staring at her with wide eyes and open mouths. 

Winn elbowed Mon-El, “Looks like no one won the bet.” He whispered to the taller male. 

Lena knelt down next to Kara who was shaking off the shock, sitting up. “Oh my Gods Kara. I’m sorry! I don’t even know what happened. You just surprised me. One minute I was enjoying my book and the next there you were!” Lena said, almost hysterical. Kara cut her off. 

“I’m okay Lena, don’t worry. But what was that!?” Kara asked. Lena shrugged. 

“I have no idea.” She said, standing up, offering Kara her hand, who accept it and Lena pulled Kara to her feet. There was a moment's pause before Lena’s entire life changed. Lena felt a new warmth envelop her body. She watched Kara back away from her slowly. Lena was going to ask her what was wrong, reaching out a hand, but stopped. She noticed that her hand was glowing. She looked down at herself and her entire body was glowing yellow. She frowned as Alex stepped forward, her and Maggie having appeared on the quad as well. 

“She has been claimed!” Alex announced to the entire quad. Lena’s heart leapt. The entire quad bent down on one knee in front of her. Lena could see Winn, Mon-El, Maggie and Kara all on their knee, but looking up and smiling at her. She chuckled when Mon-El gave her a subtle thumbs up. “All hail Lena Luthor, daughter of the Sun God!” 

IV.

Kara stared up at Lena from her place on the ground in awe of her glowing friend. She watched as the glow steadily disappeared. Kara slowly stood from the ground, still gazing at her friend who was looking at a bit uncomfortable at all the attention people were giving her before looking at Kara. The dark haired girl smiled nervously at Kara, who gave Lena a bright grin. 

Kara’s heart leapt at the new revelation about her friend.  Kara had once been lucky enough to receive a prophecy from Aphrodite about her future love. And Lena was seeming to be more and more to fit the bill. Not that Kara was complaining, from the first time Kara saw Lena on her first day, she had instantly been taken by the freshmen. And ever since Maggie had drug Lena into their circle of friends, Kara had made sure to make Lena feel as welcome as possible. 

And now Kara was beginning to understand why she had such an instant connection with Lena. Aphrodite had once told Kara that she was destined to fall in love with the daughter of a sun god. Someone who is neither light nor dark. One that exists in the shades of gray in between. A halfblood with a power the world had never seen in a halfblood before. Lena’s photokinesis certainly fit the bill. Though what concerned Kara was the second part, one neither of light nor dark. The gods had a funny way of expressing prophecy and that could mean either nothing at all. Or it could mean everything.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little pick me up after today's Supergirl/Lena Luthor news...
> 
> So yeah. Before I get yelled at for putting Lena in Apollo and not Kara... There's a good reason. That I can't tell you right now. Because spoilers. Just know that it's important. Her heritage will play a huge role in this story. Also, remember that I adapted this story from an outline intended for a different ship and one of the major plot devices hinges on Lena's character being claimed as a daughter of Apollo. 
> 
> And while there are far more appropriate godly parents for Lena in canon, I think everyone will eventually be happy with the decision. I personally headcanon Lena as a daughter of Nemesis, but it was interesting to read everyone's ideas of where she belongs! Obviously, there weren't enough story details to make a good and informed guess, but I always love reading headcanons. 
> 
> Also, I said I wasn't going to make this an anti Mon-El story. I don't like his canon writing, but I think he has potential to be a good character if he were written differently, which I'm trying to tackle here. I know a lot of people can't stomach him, but I promise he won't be a douchebag in my story. 
> 
> Anyways. Yes. Daughter of Apollo. Interesting choice I know, but like I said, it'll be important later. 
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	4. Adjustment

I.

Lena was immediately moved from her room in Baker Hall to Apollo’s dorm. Lucy gave her a quick hug as she helped the youngest Luthor pack up her stuff. She had only been staying in Baker for about a month and a half, but the quiet and usually reserved freshman had grown on her. “Come back and visit me, Little Luthor,” Lucy said with a small smile as Lena grabbed one of her bags, nodding.

“Of course. You can count on it.” Lena said, smiling back as she headed downstairs with her stuff. The nickname that Maggie had given her somehow spread quickly across the student body and almost all the students on campus called her “Little Luthor” except for her closest friends. In reality, she didn’t really mind. It actually felt nice. To fit to where she had a nickname in the first place. It was a refreshing change of pace. Of course, her closest friends bar Maggie who came up with the nickname in the first place; Kara, Winn, and Mon-El still referred to her as Lena. And to her surprise, one of those friends was waiting in the lobby for her.

“Kara? What are you doing here?” She asked. Kara smiled brightly.

“I came to help you move! I figured you could use an extra set of hands. Mon-El said he wishes he could help, but he had some homework he needed to finish during our free period.” Kara said apologetically. Lena shrugged it off.

“It’s alright, your company and help are more than enough,” Lena said as Kara took a couple of Lena’s bags from her. The two walked out of Baker and across the way to Apollo’s dorms. Each of the different dorms for each of the gods were two story buildings for each of the gods represented at the school, arranged in a circular shape around a quad area. And each of the smaller gods were built next to the twelve so that the dorm area was almost a full circle.

“So, Apollo…” Kara prodded. Lena nodded.

“Yeah, I was kind of surprised if I’m honest about it. Apollo is the last place I thought I would end up.” Lena said with a frown. “I’m terrible with a bow and arrow.” Lena lamented. Kara just shrugged.

“You don’t have to be good at everything your father and siblings are,” Kara said like it was the simplest thing in the world. Lena didn’t have the heart to bring down the mood by saying that she was literally the only child of Apollo that wasn’t good at archery. And that she was apparently terrible at the few things she was supposed to be really good at. Instead, nodding.

“Yeah,” Lena said hesitantly. “So what’s going to happen to me now?” Lena asked her friend.

“No one has explained it to you?” Kara asked and Lena shook her head.

“Nope. The move and everything was all so sudden.” Lena blinked.

“Well, first off as you know, you’ll be moving into Apollo’s dorm. You know what your room number is?” Lena nodded. “Well, we’ll get you all settled in. There probably will be a new class schedule for you since they’re going to be moving you into some more specialized classes for Apollo’s kids.” Kara said with a shrug. Lena nodded, praying that her Ancient Greek class wasn’t going to change. Her shared class with Maggie was one of the highlights of her day.

The pair got to the Apollo dorms, Kara holding to door open for Lena who smiled gratefully. Apollo’s dorm was decorated quite differently than Baker. Because Apollo was the sun god there were a lot of large windows to let in as much natural light as possible into the lobby. There were a bunch of musical instruments strewn across the room, a couple of Apollo kids lounging on the couches. One of them looked up and smiled, getting up off the couch and walking over to the pair. “You’re the new girl, Lena right?” The guy asked. Lena nodded.

“I’m Adam. Hi, Kara.” He said, greeting the other woman who nodded.

“Hi, Adam.” She said. “Just helping Lena get settled in. He nodded.

“You’re up on the second floor, room 11 right?” Lena nodded in affirmation. “Need any help?” He asked, Lena, looked at Kara then back at Adam and shook her head.

“I think we’re good here, thanks for the offer, though,” Lena said politely. Adam nodded.

“Well, I’ll probably be seeing you around then, Lena. Welcome to the Apollo dorms.” He said with a friendly smile, going back to his friend sitting on the couch. Lena and Kara headed up to the second floor and quickly found room 11. Lena opened the door to her new room.

Like her room in Baker, she had it to herself. However, like the lobby downstairs, the room had one large window that almost took up the entire outside wall. Lena looked around, seeing a number of weapon hooks to place a bow and arrow, as well as a sword. The rest of the room was a pretty simple dorm room. Typical sized bed, a small wooden desk with a piece of paper on it, probably her new schedule, along with a closet and set of drawers for her stuff. “Well, I’ll say, your window is a lot bigger than mine. I’m almost jealous.” Kara teased, setting Lena’s bags down on the bed.

Lena set the bags she was carrying down on the floor, walking over to the window. From where the Apollo dorm was situated, her window had a really nice view of the middle of the quad, sunlight streaming into her room, lighting up the white walls. Kara walked over and stood next to Lena. “Nice view.” She remarked. Lena nodded absentmindedly. “Need any help unpacking?” Kara asked. Lena shook her head.

“No. But you’re free to stay and keep me company if you’re not busy, Kara.” The blonde smiled and nodded, going over to sit on Lena’s bed while the dark haired girl unzipped one of her bags and started putting clothes away.

“So, how’s your first year going?” Kara asked curiously. Lena glanced over at Kara who was watching her intently.

“It’s been okay. Weird to get used to all of this.” Lena gestured arbitrarily. “But I’ve been managing. You guys have helped a lot.” Lena mentioned and as her back was turned, she missed Kara’s face light up.

“I’m glad.” The blonde said honestly. “I remember when I first started school here. I had lived with the Danvers here for a number of years before, but going to school here is something else.” Kara said. “Being around other people like yourself makes you feel more normal than I imagine the outside world does.” Lena grabbed some more stuff out of her bag, nodding.

“It does. I mean, my family was nice enough. Lionel and Lex were at least. But I always felt like I never really fit in with them.” Lena said, neglecting to tell Kara about her unstable relationship with Lillian. Kara nodded.

“I hear that story a lot. James, Winn, Mon-El, Maggie. They’ve all got similar stories.” Kara replied. “But we’ve all found family here. In a manner of speaking.” Lena nodded thoughtfully, not replying to Kara’s statement. The room was silent for a few minutes as Lena finished putting away her clothes. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence like Lena thought it would be. Lena went over and sat on the bed next to her friend, picking up her new schedule from the desk, groaning as she looked it over.

“Of course it had to be archery classes,” Lena complained as Kara chuckled at her friend’s misery. “Don’t laugh Danvers. I swear one day I’m going to kill somebody with the arrow.”

“That’s kind of the point, isn’t it?” Kara said cheekily as Lena rolled her eyes and shoved Kara’s shoulder.

“Not what I meant!”

II.

Luckily Lena still had Ancient Greek with Maggie and still had her free period with Mon-El and Kara. Most of her free time was spent down at the shooting range or the fight pit with her two friends. Sometimes Winn would join them when he had his class during that time slot canceled, which was pretty often.

Today, all four of them were down at the shooting range, watching Lena struggle with a bow and arrow. The tenth arrow to go flying off in the wrong direction, Lena groaned. “I swear to the Gods, the stuff I’m supposed to be good at…” Lena trailed off.

“Hey! Don’t beat yourself up. Not all children of Apollo are good at archery.” Winn tried to comfort his friend. Lena raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah? Name one.” She snapped. Winn faltered, giving Lena an apologetic look. Kara jumped in.

“Hey. He’s just trying to help.” Kara defended her friend. Lena sighed.

“Sorry Winn, I’m just a little frustrated.” Lena apologized. Winn nodded in acceptance.

“Hey Lena, want to give the sword a try?” Mon-El asked the girl. Lena still hadn’t sparred with any of the group, even though in her Swordsmanship classes they had finally moved on to actually handling a sword. Lena shrugged, nodding for the first time. Kara got an excited look in her eye.

“Awesome!” Kara said brightly, running over to Lena, grabbing the bow and arrow from the girl and stowing them away on the rack. Then pulling Lena over to the fight pit. Lena just blinked and allowed herself to be dragged by Kara. Winn and Mon-El followed the two girls, both amused at Kara’s excitement. They both knew how much Kara had been waiting to help Lena with the sword. Kara went to go grab her broadsword from her dorm room, leaving Mon-El, Winn, and Lena to wait for her.

“She’s a little… excited.” Lena noted their friend’s behavior. Winn just laughed.

“She’s been waiting to be able to help someone that isn’t hot head over here,” Winn said, casually pointing to Mon-El, who pouted.

“It’s not my fault!” He exclaimed. Winn just shrugged.

“So, I don’t actually have a sword yet…” Lena trailed off. “You guys want to help me pick one?” She asked her friends, not exactly knowing what she should be using against Kara and her large broadsword. Mon-El opened his mouth, then shut it before running off towards the rack. He grabbed a rather shiny short sword with red and gold handle, hurrying back over and handing the sword to Lena, along with the matching blade guard. She accepted it, gripping the handle and examining the blade.

“This one.” He said. “It was my old one until my dad gifted me with my current sword. It should fit you pretty well.” Mon-El said happily. Lena gave the sword a few test swings. Mon-El watched Lena swing the sword and was slightly impressed that for a freshmen with very little training that she already seemed comfortable with a sword she had just picked up. He was about to comment when Kara came bounding back towards the group, her own large broadsword in hand, blade guard in hand.

“I see Mon-El found you a sword to use.” She said, giving Mon-El a knowing grin. He awkwardly rubbed his neck, nodding. “C’mon Lena, let’s see what you can do,” Kara said, beckoning Lena to join her in the middle of the fight pit. Lena walked over to Kara, the sword in her right hand. Kara grinned at Lena, a glint of challenge in her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you.” Kara jested. Lena just rolled her eyes, knowing full well that Kara could probably steamroll over her if she wanted. But she drew the sword, pointing it at Kara.

“Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is Danvers.” Lena teased. The boys ooo’ed from the sidelines as Kara’s eyes narrowed playfully, starting to walk in circles, Lena mirroring her all the way.

“5 bucks that Lena lasts for at least 5 minutes against Kara,” Mon-El whispered to Winn who smirked.

“You’re on. Even you didn’t last 5 minutes your first sparring session with her.” Winn said, the two shaking on the bet, turning their attention back to the two sparring women.

Lena watched Kara’s movements closely as she felt her instincts take over. They had warned the freshmen about this. As a halfblood, their brains were hardwired to keep them alive in a fight. And that their instincts would keep them alive most of the time. And the other times, well. That was what training was for. So Lena felt senses heighten, time almost slowing down around her as she watched Kara circle like a predator.

Lena decided to make the first move, swinging at Kara, who easily blocked the swing. Lena, trying to get a feel for Kara’s blade and strength that she might use. “C’mon Lena, you can do better than that.” Kara egged her friend on. Lena frowned, gripping the handle of her sword tighter. This time, Kara swung at her with her broadsword. Lena managed to raise her sword and catch Kara’s swing on it, pushing her sword back. Kara blinked, raising an eyebrow at her friend.

Mon-El and Winn were both also surprised. It could have been that Kara was going really easy on Lena, but from the frown on the blonde’s face, she had intended to disarm Lena. Mon-El smirked at Winn smugly.

Lena and Kara continued circling each other, trading blows for a couple of minutes. Lena could see Kara getting slightly frustrated, but also there was an impressed look on her face. Lena herself was pretty surprised that Kara hadn’t disarmed her yet, but she figured that Kara really was just taking it easy on her. This time, Kara swung again, stepping forward and locking blades with Lena, who gritted her teeth, fighting to stay standing, as Kara was pushing her to her knees with a great deal of force.

Kara kept pushing until she finally managed to force Lena to her knees, quickly disarming her friend, the metal blade clattering on the floor. Lena blinked before looking up at Kara who had a wide smile on her face. Kara set her own sword on the floor, offering her hand to Lena, helping her up. Lena stood, dusting herself off as Mon-El and Winn ran over to the pair. Mon-El pat Lena on the back. “Congrats freshmen, I think you now hold the record for the amount of time you were able to hold Kara off on the first go.” Mon-El laughed, during to Winn. “And you owe me 5 bucks,” Winn grumbled, pulling his wallet out of his pants.

Kara gave Lena a once over as the girl bent over to grab her sword from the floor. “They’re right you know. You’re really good. Are you sure you’ve never had any training before?” Kara asked and Lena shook her head.

“Nope.” She said, popping the p. Kara chuckled.

“I’ll be the first to admit that with enough training and a lot of hard work, you could probably easily be better than me in a couple of years,” Kara said with a gentle smile. Lena frowned, knowing that Kara was ranked a master swordsman on campus, but with Mon-El nodding in agreement, the thought stuck in her mind.

“Odd for a daughter of Apollo. But hey, maybe you’re compensating for your lack of bow skills.” Mon-El teased his friend. Lena rolled her eye, hitting him not too softly on the shoulder. The guy winced, rubbing the spot where Lena had hit him.

“Wow, Uncalled for.” He whined. The four of them laughed as the bell rang, signaling the end of their free period. With a wave and a hug each in Kara’s case, the group split up to go to their next class of the day.

III.

“This is serious Hermes, the Titans are planning something,” Zeus said in frustration. “The deal to release them from Tartarus all those years ago was a mistake.”

“It shows your strength. Shows that you aren’t afraid of them. That you’re more powerful than them. Mount Olympus is stronger than Mount Othrys” Athena said, to try to calm Zeus’ temper, though she fought against the deal being struck when it was made.

“It will do no good if our father and his brothers overthrow us, even with their weakened powers,” Zeus argued. This time, Apollo stepped in.

“What if we send a group of heroes to spy on them. Find out what they are doing. You know that is the only way you’re going to be able to soothe your fears.” The sun god suggested. The king of the gods looked at Apollo, sighing but nodding.

“You’re right Apollo. The deal was made for good or worse. Send your newest daughter, it will be a good test to prove her loyalty to Olympus.” Zeus said with a hint of contempt in his voice. Apollo gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, but said nothing, instead nodded, complying with his king’s request.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so we're getting into the actual meat of the plot of this story. For clarification, as I don't think I'll be explaining in depth in the actual story how this particular mechanic differs from PJO canon... So if you're interested in how this all works, here's the brief explanation. If you're not, it's not critical to understand why. Rather just know that they're free, to a degree. 
> 
> A few decades prior, probably around 40-50 years, to the timeline of this story, Zeus released the Titans from their prison of Tartarus. They struck a bargain that Zeus would release them from their prison in exchange for a portion of their powers which he siphoned from them and keeps on Olympus for "emergencies." The Titans were to basically be confined to Mount Orthys, Mount Olympus' evil twin on the West Coast. The Gods were not to meddle directly with the Titans for fear of another war breaking out. So essentially, it's a "stay out of my way and I'll stay out of your way." Sort of fight and Zeus and the other Olympians were hoping that their combined powers, along with the weakened power of the Titans would be a sufficient deterrent from the Titans plotting to start a war. 
> 
> That's the basic story to that. As I said, it's not overly important to know. I just thought some of you would be interested in some of the canon deviations that I'm not planning on addressing in the story itself. Just a little interesting tidbit of knowledge. 
> 
> So Lena is awesome with a sword and terrible with a bow. Interesting. 
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	5. Dreams

I.

Lena didn’t remember falling asleep. Though her body was so sore from sparring with Kara that she had headed back to her dorm room after dinner much to the amusement of the group. She had just flipped them all off and said she wasn’t as used to everything as they were yet. 

When she got back to her room, she had just flopped on the bed, immediately shutting her eyes and letting Morpheus overtake her. Her mind drifted as she slept before settling in the middle of a barren wasteland. Lena looked around, taking in her surroundings. She walked among the stone ruins, running her fingers over the fallen structures, char marks marring the environment and smoke rising in the distance. The murky gray sky was lit up, but Lena could see no clouds or any source of light to brighten the area. Lena frowned as she could make out a figure in the distance. 

Somehow, the figure got closer even though Lena nor the strange man were making any movements. Everything stopped when he was a few yards from her and she got a better view of him. She did not recognize the person standing before her. She could see his chest and arms were bare, his lower body covered in armor, though she was looking at his back, his muscles a prominent feature of his body. A golden cape wrapped around his shoulders. 

Lena could see dark brown hair cut short atop his head. She glanced down his body to see a fancy and impressive golden sword attached to his hip and a helmet tucked under his arm. The man turned to face Lena and the freshman gasped as she looked at his eyes. Instead of a single color, she saw his gaze shift through various, vibrant shades of red, yellow and orange, like flames were flickering behind his eyes. Lena wanted to take a step back, distance herself from the man in front of her, but she couldn’t move. 

Lena whimpered, both intimidated and in awe of the man who stood before her. He looked to be much older than her, at least 10 to 15 years if not more. Though if Lena was straight, she might find him attractive. She met his stare, his eyes seeming to stare into her soul. As much as she wanted to look away, she didn’t, captivated by the flickering colors of his eyes. 

The man opened his mouth, a smooth voice issuing from it, echoing in Lena’s ears, “Before the end, you will know who you truly are.” Lena frowned, not understanding his words, but quickly shielded her eyes as the man before her disappeared in a brilliant flash of light. Lena slowly opened her eyes as the light faded before she felt a hand grab her wrist. She gasped as the same man had materialized beside her, taking her right wrist in his hand. He wrapped his fingers all the way around it, his palm facing the inside of her wrist. 

Lena felt a searing pain in her wrist, like a red hot burn marring her skin. Lena screamed out in her dream, jarring her out of her sleep and she jolted up in her bed, breathing deeply, sweat running down her forehead. The pain disappeared like it had never existed. Lena glanced down at her wrist. To her horror, she saw a glowing symbol etched into her skin. A blazing sun with an open eye in the middle. Lena lifted her wrist to inspect it more closely, but the symbol glowed brightly and disappeared, her pale skin becoming unmarked. 

The freshmen blinked and frowned. ‘That was more than just a dream.’ Lena thought to herself. Shaking her head, she looked out the window of her room. Night had fallen on the campus, the moon high in the sky. Lena got out of her bed and walked over to the window. Unable to fall back to sleep and finding herself unconsciously rubbing her wrist, Lena leaned up against the wall next to the window, watching a few students walk between dorms and others messing around the darkness. 

Lena wasn’t sure how long she stood there, it could have been hours for all she knew, but eventually she decided to go back to sleep. She would ask Maggie about her dream tomorrow she decided. So Lena actually changed her clothes as she had fallen asleep earlier without doing so. She grabbed an oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts, stripping down and changing into her pajamas. 

The freshman crawled into bed, pulling the covers over her body. She lay with one arm behind her head as she laid on her back, staring at the ceiling. It didn’t take long for sleep to overtake her, but as she slept, she tossed and turned, those fiery eyes haunting her dreams.

II.

Maggie all but threw herself into her usual seat next to Lena in Ancient Greek the next day. She smiled at her friend, but noting the tired look on her face, immediately looked concerned. “Are you okay Lena? I mean, I know you’re not used to sparring with Kara for much of the afternoon, but you look…” Maggie trailed off, not wanting to come across as rude. Lena shook her head. 

“No it’s not that, but yeah. I’m a little tired. I didn’t sleep too well last night.” Lena said, yawning. Maggie gave Lena a sympathetic look. 

“We’ve all had those nights. Any specific reason why you couldn’t sleep?” Maggie asked her friend. Lena hesitantly nodded. Maggie tilted her head to the side, silently asking Lena to continue. 

“I… had the weirdest dream last night. It felt too real to be fake, but I also knew I was asleep. I jolted awake as it ended. And then I just couldn’t stop thinking about it for the rest of the night, even when I went back to sleep.” Lena confided in her friend. Maggie frowned. But didn’t immediately comment. Lena hoped that she hadn’t spooked her friend.

Eventually, Maggie responded, “I think you should probably talk to Alex about this one. She’ll probably have better advice than I could give you.” Maggie said. “I’ve heard of those sorts of dreams happening to halfbloods before and they usually aren’t just dreams.” Lena bit her lip, afraid that Maggie was right. 

Ancient Greek went along without any more mention of Lena’s dreams between the two friends. They sat in the back, as usual, and didn’t pay much attention to their teacher, rather continuing their discussion from the previous day about the uses of human technology in enhancing their world. Lena thought that while much of the halfblood’s world was very much focused on older techniques, like sword fighting and archery, that someone like Winn could easily rig up more modern weaponry like guns and grenades to function like celestial bronze would against attacking monsters. 

Maggie was of a similar mindset but wondered more about the defensive aspects of such technology. Could the Hephaestus kids create armor that was more resistant to monster attacks? And how realistic would it be to use on quests and such, where mobility and speed were usually key. The two would often write down ideas in their notebooks to chat with their friends about. But they hadn’t worked out all the details between themselves yet, so they hadn’t talked to Alex or Winn about such an idea, though they were sure both of them would be receptive to the idea. Winn especially.

Class ended and the two friends packed up their stuff, laughing together as Maggie had been talking Lena a story from when she had first met Kara and the overly excited daughter of Zeus had accidently broken one of her ribs when she discovered that Alex and Maggie were dating and had hugged her a little too tight. “That sounds like something she would do,” Lena remarked as the two walked towards the cafeteria together. Maggie grinned, nodding. 

“You should have seen the horror on her face! If it hadn’t hurt so much, I would have been laughing my ass off.” Maggie replied, smiling at the memory. The two grabbed some food before sitting next to their friends. Lena set her food next to Kara who smiled brightly at her friend. 

“Hi, Lena!” Kara said happily. Lena smiled at the sight of Kara, her heartbeat increasing slightly and butterflies fluttering in her stomach as she looked at the blonde. Lena knew she was developing a little bit of a crush on Kara but didn’t know what to do about it. Kara was her friend. In fact, one of her most important friends. She didn’t want to make things awkward between them. Especially because basically all of her friends at Demos were also Kara’s friends, and in fact were Kara’s friends before they were hers. She didn’t want her feelings for Kara to get in the way of their friendship and make the group awkward. 

“Hi, Kara.” Lena greeted with a small smile before turning to Alex. “Alex, do you mind if we talk? Privately.” Lena added at the end. The dark haired girl glanced at Kara who was giving her a concerned look, but Alex nodded, standing up and kissing Maggie on the cheek. 

“I’ll be right back,” Alex said to her girlfriend, who nodded, looking up at Lena with a small, encouraging smile. The two walked over to a secluded table and sat down. “Something wrong Lena?” Alex asked. Lena nodded slowly. Alex was one of the people in the group who she didn’t talk to that much. The senior was a little bit intimidating to Lena, even though they saw each other every day. And she knew that Alex was extremely protective of Kara and Lena’s feelings for the blonde would most certainly be put through a 10 point test to prove her worth if anyone ever found out. 

“I… I was talking to Maggie earlier and she told me I should talk to you.” Alex nodded, gesturing for the freshman to continue. Lena took a breath. “I had a really vivid dream last night. I… it felt like it was more than a dream, that it was real.” Lena said quietly, absentmindedly rubbing her wrist again. Though she didn’t share the content of the dream, Alex frowned. 

“Do you know what it meant?” Alex asked slowly and Lena shook her head. 

“I have no idea. I don’t even remember the entire thing,” Lena lied, not wanting to share the contents of the dream. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Alex or anything. Rather she had no idea what to make of it herself and wanted to keep it close to her chest for the time being. “Just flashes.” Alex nodded. 

“It could possibly mean nothing. Halfbloods do dream like anyone else. But we also sometimes have prophetic visions and receive messages through our dreams too. And you, being a daughter of Apollo are more susceptible to them than most of us. I’d suggest going to see J’onn. See if he has anything to say.” Alex said gently, placing a hand on Lena’s shoulder, squeezing it. “There’s probably nothing to worry about, but if you’re concerned about it, he’ll probably be able to help.” Lena nodded once. Alex smiled as the pair stood up from their seats, walking back over to their friends. 

Lena took her usual seat next to Kara as Alex settled back in next to Maggie. “What was that about?” Mon-El asked, who was sitting next to Kara. The blonde glared at the son of Ares who had the tact to look a little sheepish. 

“Nothing. I just needed some advice.” Lena said, brushing off the question. Mon-El nodded, obviously accepting the answer, though Kara gave Lena a look that signified that she knew her friend was lying but didn’t push. 

“Do you want to spar again today? Maybe try your hand against Mon-El?” Kara asked instead. Lena shook her head. 

“No thanks. I’m still a little sore from yesterday, maybe tomorrow? There’s something I want to do today. Hope you guys don’t mind?” Lena asked. Both Kara and Mon-El shook their heads. They were used to Lena occasionally spending her free period without them. Lena nodded, silently thanking them for not asking what she was planning on doing. She was about to open her mouth when Winn slid in next to her. 

She turned to face her son of Hephaestus. “Can I help you?” She asked teasingly. Winn laughed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. 

“Sorry to pop by like this. But I was wondering if I could bounce a new idea off of you?” Winn asked. Lena nodded, turning her full attention to Winn who proceeded to talk to her about his ideas for developing a new way to smith celestial bronze weapons faster and make them more durable. 

III. 

Lena nervously stood outside J’onn’s door. She hesitated then knocked softly. She waited for a second before the door opened. J’onn looked at her before smiling. “Lena. I was just about to have you come see me.” Lena frowned as he opened the door wider so she could step into his office. 

“What for sir?” Lena asked curiously as J’onn went to sit back at his desk, gesturing for Lena to take a seat. Lena sat in the chair across from J’onn. 

“The Gods have seen decided that they wish for you to lead a quest.” Lena’s eyebrows shot up. 

“Me? But… Sir. I’m only a freshmen. I’ve barely learned anything this semester. Shouldn’t it be one of the seniors or something?” Lena asked frantically. J’onn gave Lena a knowing look. 

“The Gods work in mysterious ways, Lena. But rest assured, this isn’t a mistake. And don’t sell yourself so short. I’ve seen your grades since you’ve gotten here. In only a few weeks you’ve gotten some of the highest grades in War Strategy that I’ve seen from a freshmen in a long time. And word on campus is that you were able to stand up to Kara Danvers on your first real sword fight.” Lena blushed that news of that sparring session had made it’s way to J’onn. “That’s not a small feat Lena.” He said warmly. 

“I guess so,” Lena said hesitantly. “So I’m supposed to lead a quest to do what?” Lena asked. She had only heard stories of quests, usually they involved retrieving some magical artifact or something. J’onn didn’t speak, instead waved his hand at a blank space on the wall, a dark wooden door appearing out of nowhere. 

“You are to speak with the Oracle, who will give you a prophecy. Only then will we know for sure what you mission is.” He said, gesturing to the door. Lena nodded, standing up from her chair and approaching the door in front of her. She grabbed the door handle, pulling it open to reveal a dimly lit room. She looked back at J’onn who nodded, encouraging her to enter the room. Lena gulped, walking into the room. 

As soon as she was inside, the door mysteriously shut behind her. The slam of the door made her jump and look back at the door, before examining the room around her. In the middle of the room sat an upright coffin, open to reveal a dead body of a young girl. Lena hesitantly approached it, inching forward, as if the corpse would magically come to life and devour her. 

Lena wasn’t sure what to say or what to do. So she frowned, tilting her head slightly to the side. “What is my destiny?” She whispered, feeling stupid, talking to a dead body. But the candlelight that lit the room immediately brightened a blue aura surrounding the corpse in front of her. Lena stepped back automatically, bringing her hands up in front of her. The eye sockets of the girl glowed an eerie blue color as it spoke. 

_ Six heroes will seek the Titans  
_ _ As the danger to Olympus heightens _

_ To travel West, one shall lead  
_ _ A halfblood, a single Titan will pay heed _

_ To live or die, depends upon friends,   
_ _ And in the end, one will ascend.  _

As the Oracle finished speaking, the lights dimmed back down, the blue aura fading. The door opened behind her, revealing J’onn’s office where the man was sitting at his desk, obviously waiting for her to emerge. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There isn't much for me to say about this chapter. It's pretty... self-explanatory. Lena is having weird dreams. Not odd for a halfbood, right? Also, I'm no good at writing poetry or whatever, so writing a prophecy myself was a bit of a reach. But it got the point across, so I'm fine. 
> 
> I think it's pretty obvious which five other halfbloods Lena is going to pick to go with her on the quest though. So, yeah. :) I guess one of the biggest mysteries is who was the man from Lena's dream? Who knows. Except me of course. I know who he is. *wink*
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	6. Quest

I.

Lena sat down in the chair opposite J’onn, relaying the words the Oracle had told her. She could see his features become more and more concerned with each line. He was frowning as she finished. “Is everything alright sir?” Lena asked. J’onn grunted, sitting back in his chair.

“I will admit, this is worrying. A halfblood with the attention of the Titans.” He said, visibly troubled. Lena bit her lip, recalling her dreams the previous night. But chose to keep it to herself, not wanting to worry the Headmaster further. Though in the back of her mind, a voice kept telling her that the two events were connected.

“But the Gods have decreed that you are to lead this quest, and so you must. Your destination will be Mount Othrys, in San Francisco, the traveling West portion.” J’onn said and Lena nodded. She had learned the basic information about the Titans and the Gods in one of her intro classes. The history of Zeus imprisoning the Titans in Tartarus was true. But a few decades ago he released them. No one knew why and many thought the decision foolish. But Kronos and Zeus had come to an agreement that Zeus would free the Titans from their prison, siphoning some of their powers, weakening the Titans. As well as confining them to Mount Othrys. They were not to leave their home, nor come anywhere near Olympus, as doing so would violate their deal and they would be cast back into Tartarus.

“You will have the choice of five students to accompany you on this quest. It sounds as though it will be important for you do bring your friends along on this quest, so choose wisely. And the last line, I do not know what to make of it.” J’onn said. Lena nodded in agreement. She didn’t know what that meant either. _And in the end, one will ascend_.

“What will be will be, however, and there is nothing we can do to stop fate.” J’onn continued. “I suppose you’d like some time to think about who you’d like to bring?” Lena nodded. “Very well. Was there anything else you wished to speak with me about? You were coming to talk to me about something.” Lena shook her head.

“No, sir. It’s not important. I just was wondering how I was doing in my classes and such.” She lied. “As you’ve said, I’m doing very well. That was all.” She said, hoping J’onn would buy her excuse. He gave her a strange look before nodding.

“Very well. Please come see me when you’ve chosen your companions. You will probably need to set out on this quest soon.” Lena nodded, standing from her chair.

“Thank you, sir. I will make my decision soon.” She said, bidding the Headmaster good day and leaving his office.

II.

Lena had a little bit of time before her next class, so she went down to the fight pits to see if Kara and Mon-El were there. And as per usual, they were. Lena approached them but didn’t call out to her friends, deciding to observe. Kara really was incredible with a sword. With her enhanced strength, it allowed her to handle her large broadsword with ease and swing it with such strength that she made it look like she was handling a gladius instead. Mon-El on the other hand generally tended to use a more conventional long sword. And as he didn’t have Kara’s strength, he had to rely on his speed and footwork instead.

Lena watched the two trade blows for a few minutes before Kara glanced her direction and caught her gaze. The blonde beamed, tilting her head to Lena’s direction as she said something to Mon-El that Lena couldn’t hear. The two stop fighting, heading over to their friend. “Hey, Lena!” Kara said happily as Mon-El also greeted his friend.

“Hey. Don’t stop on my account.” Lena said perched on one of the benches. Kara brushed her off.

“You’re good, we probably need to take a break and cool off before classes, right?” Kara said in Mon-El general direction. The brown haired male nodded in affirmation, sitting down next to Lena.

“So, what have you been up to?” Mon-El asked. Lena blinked and shifted uncomfortably, not exactly sure how to pitch to her friends that she was supposed to lead a quest. She bit her lip, trying to wrack her brains. Kara, thankfully, saved her.

“You don’t need to answer him,” Kara said, giving Mon-El a sharp look, the man rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly under Kara’s gaze. “That’s none of our business if you don’t want to share,” Kara said, obviously aware of Lena’s hesitance previously. Lena shot Kara a grateful look.

“It’s nothing important.” Lena brushed it off, chickening out. Which in retrospect was probably a bad idea since she was eventually going to have to tell them. Kara nodded.

The three friends chatted about classes and their upcoming weekend plans together until the bell dinged signaling the end of the period and signaling the start of another. Lena and Mon-El got up from the bench, Mon-El pulling Lena in for a hug before he had to head to his Advanced Swordsmanship II class. Kara smiled as he left, turning to Lena and hugging her tightly. “I’ll see you at dinner?” Kara asked and Lena nodded before the two friends parted ways to their respective classes.

III.

Lena sat down at her usual place in between Kara and Maggie at dinner. Maggie elbowed Lena gently. “Hey, how did your meeting with J’onn go?” She asked her friend. Alex also turned her attention to the freshman. Lena sighed.

“I… I really don’t want to talk about it,” Lena said, wanting to process before she told her friends. Maggie gave Lena a concerned look.

“Are you sure?” Maggie pressed. And Lena nodded curtly, suddenly not feeling very hungry. Her stomach was in knots, thinking about her meeting with the headmaster earlier. Lena shifted uncomfortably, getting up from the table.

“I’m not really feeling that well, I think I’m going to go get some air,” Lena announced.

“Do you want company?” Kara asked her friend, moving to stand up too. Lena shook her head.

“No.” She said sharply. A little bit harsher than she had intended. She couldn’t bring herself to see the look of hurt she knew was probably on Kara’s face and walked off quickly. Kara made to follow her, but Maggie grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

“Leave her Kara. Let her have her space.” Maggie implored. Kara huffed, but nodded, sitting back down, watching Lena walk out of the cafeteria, wishing that she could follow her friend. She wanted to be there for the girl that she was starting to develop strong feelings for.

IV.

Lena stood in front of the brazier, throwing in a bit of food, looking up at the sky. “Please, tell me what to do.” Lena prayed silently. She walked off towards the middle of campus and decided to sit on the grass and watch the sunset.

How was she, a newbie halfblood, to lead one of the most important quests of the time? Lena sits back on the grass, propping herself up on her hands. “You’re my daughter for a reason you know.” Lena yelped at the sudden voice. She hadn’t heard anyone approach her. A muscular man was sitting next to her, sandy blonde hair and dark blue eyes. She knew from just his words alone that this was Apollo.

“Lord Apollo,” Lena said carefully. She knew better than to disrespect gods, even if he was her father. The god just laughed.

“Apollo is fine Lena. I’m not one for titles and formality.” He said with a shrug. “So, what is this about not knowing what to do?” He asked the girl. Lena sighed.

“I’m only 18. I’m one of the newest halfbloods here. And you’re sending me on a quest to spy on the Titans.” Lena said uncomfortably. Apollo nodded.

“You sell yourself too short Lena. You are an extremely powerful halfblood. The first in history to have the powers of the sun. That alone is a statement of your power. You also have extremely loyal friends here. You don’t have to go it alone.” Lena looked at her father, nodding slowly.

“I guess I’m just not used to all of this yet. It’s so different than back home.” Lena said. “I’ve been so used to doing everything on my own, that it’s just weird to know that I have people who have my back.” She admitted. Apollo nodded slightly.

“Change is hard for all of us Lena. There’s nothing wrong with that. You just need to realize that you’re not alone anymore. That you’ve got people that love you, in more ways than one.” Apollo gave her a knowing look. Lena tilted her head to the side before looking up at the sky, stars starting to sparkle in the sky.

“Why am I so bad with a bow?” Lena asked out of the blue, a question that had been haunting her ever since she had been claimed. She felt Apollo shift uncomfortably next to her. She looked in his direction, seeing a slight frown on his face. “I’ve not come across any of my siblings that are bad at archery.” Apollo placed a hand on her shoulder.

“You’re special Lena. No one knows how powers manifest in a child of a divine. You were not granted a talent in archery, but you have great powers. More than any of my other children. You know, destiny is a strange thing. The Fates gave you these powers for a reason. We just have yet to know why.” Apollo answered her. Lena could tell he was holding something back, but she didn’t want to push too far. In part because she was afraid of the answer.

“So Mon-El was right when he said I was compensating,” Lena muttered. Apollo must have had extremely good hearing because he laughed loudly.

“I wouldn’t say it that way, but your friend is right in a way,” Apollo said good-naturedly. He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. “It’s okay to be nervous Lena. You’re right, this is a big deal. It’s important for us to know if the Titans are planning something. But I know that you’re the right one for the job. Even if you don’t believe it yourself yet.” Lena shrugged.

“I suppose so. It’s not like I have much of a choice.” She mumbled. Apollo smiled sadly and shook his head.

“No, you don’t. It shouldn’t be too bad, the Titans won’t know you’re coming. It shouldn’t be too difficult to get there. Just take care of yourself.” He said. Lena nodded as Apollo stood, glowing slightly before he faded away. Lena sat up, pulling her knees to her chest, looking up at the night sky, the moon hung there brightly.

Apollo was right. It was okay to be nervous. But Lena thought to her friends she had made that semester. More than she had at one time in her entire life. And she was going to be able to bring five of those friends on her journey with her. She knew that they would all willingly go with her. Just like she would willing go with any of them if they had been in her position. She was just still getting used to the idea that she had people that cared about her.

Lena decided to get up and head to her room for the night. She’d apologize to everyone in the morning for being so moody. The freshman was walking back to her dorm when someone bounded up beside her. “Hi, Lena!”

“Oh, Mon-El. Hi.” She said, turning her attention to the son of Ares standing next to her.

“Feeling better?” He asked earnestly. She nodded.

“Yeah, sorry I was so short with you and everyone earlier.” She said. He just waved it off.

“Don’t worry about it Lena, everyone understood. We all get in those moods sometimes. Kara wanted to follow you, but Maggie said you give you space. She was just concerned about you. You know that Kara really likes you right?” He asked her. Lena bit her lip but nodded.

“I know. I just… needed some time to myself. I’m not used to all of this.” Mon-El tilted his head to the side curiously. “Having friends I mean.” She clarified. “Back home I was kind of a loner.” She admitted to him. He gave her a sympathetic look.

“Oh.” He said sadly. “Well, you’ve got friends now!” He brightened up quickly. “Me, Kara, Alex, Winn, Maggie, James! We’re all your friends now.” Lena gave him a small smile.

“Yeah, you are.” She said, admitting to as much to him as she was admitting it to herself.

“So whatever has been bothering you, I won’t push. But just know we’re all here for you. Seriously.” He said, patting her shoulder. “I know the others would agree with me. You’re one of us.” Lena’s heart warmed.

“It’s just…” Lena hesitated then sighed. “Can I tell you tomorrow? I’d rather not have to repeat myself to everyone. It’s something you all should know.” She asked. He nodded.

“Yeah sure. Whatever you need. I’ll see you at breakfast?” He asked and she nodded.

“Definitely. Wouldn’t miss it.” She said. Mon-El nodded happily, hugging his friend.

“Great! Well, I need to be getting back to my room. I’ve got some homework. I’ll see you later. Thanks, for talking with me I mean.” Lena waved him off.

“I’ll see you in the morning Mon-El.” She said as the two parted ways back to their respective dorms for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Lena and company are going to be going to San Francisco! Sounds like quite the journey, doesn't it?
> 
> And Lena met Apollo for the first time. He's a pretty chill guy, but I think he's also deceptively insightful since he is the God of Prophecy after all. Also remember that the Gods cannot interfere too much in a quest. He gave Lena a push in the right direction, telling her to trust her friends. 
> 
> A little off topic, Supercorp in 2x15? So many validated headcanons. And Lena was only in 3 and a half minutes. Plus Danvers sisters and Sanvers relationship. Easily one of the best episodes this season in my opinion. 
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	7. Friends

I.

 

Lena approached the group the next morning, gathering up her nerve to tell them all about the quest. Kara, as usual, spotted Lena first, waving brightly. Lena suspected that Kara actually waited and searched for her to arrive. It did warm Lena’s heart to know that Kara cared that much about her. Lena smiled at everyone, sitting down in her usual place. “Morning Lena,” Kara said brightly. Lena smiled at Kara.

“Morning.” She said. “I’m sorry about last night.” She started. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’ve just had a lot on my mind.” Just like Mon-El the night before, Kara waved her off.

“Don’t worry about it, Lena. It’s alright.” Kara said. She wasn’t going to say it didn’t hurt at the time, but today was a new day. But Lena shook her head.

“It’s not. And I can’t say anything else except sorry. And that I have something to tell everybody.” She said softly, though apparently everyone heard her because they all quieted down and turned to Lena. The raven haired girl felt a little self-conscious, but Mon-El gave her an encouraging nod of his head and Kara wrapped an arm around her shoulder, a jolt of heat coursing through her body at the contact.

“So I saw J’onn yesterday and he said I had been selected to lead a quest.” Kara was slightly taken aback while Alex and Maggie looked visibly surprised. Winn, Mon-El, and James didn’t react one way or the other, rather waited for her to continue. But Alex jumped in.

“You? No offense Lena, but you’re really…. New.” Alex said. Maggie elbowed her girlfriend in the ribs. But Lena nodded.

“I had the same concerns, but J’onn said it wasn’t a mistake. My father said the same.” This time everyone looked surprised.

“You got a visit from Apollo?” Winn asked excitedly. Lena nodded.

“Why? Is that weird?” She asked, unsure how many times everyone else had met with their godly parent.

“It’s not unheard of, but it’s certainly not too common either.” James supplied. “I’ve never met Athena and Alex has only met her once.” He said, pointing to Alex who nodded.

“Meeting your godly parent is kind of a big deal.” Alex agreed. “It’s a pretty big deal for you to get a visit from Apollo.” Lena awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck.

“Oh, I didn’t realize…” She trailed off. Kara jumped in, saving her friend from the situation.

“What is the quest about?” Kara asked. Lena shot her a grateful look.

“I’m supposed to go to Mount Othrys to spy on the Titans?” She said, almost questioningly. The entire table was a mix of different reactions. Winn’s jaw dropped, as did Kara’s. Alex, James, and Maggie all frowned at the admission and Mon-El looked somewhat excited.

“That sounds like fun!” He said happily before Kara shot him a critical look and he backed off, transitioning into a more sympathetic look. “I mean… Man, that sounds tough.”

“How many people are you allowed to bring with you?” Maggie asked her friend, smiling at her encouragingly.

“Five others,” Lena replied simply. Everyone at the table looked at each other.

“Well… there’s seven of us; you, Kara, Alex, Maggie, James, Winn, and Mon-El. And there are six people allowed to go. Unless you were planning on bringing some of your other friends.” Kara said a little sadly. Lena shook her head, though neglected to say that she didn’t really have any other friends than the people sitting at the table. Lena had given a bit of thought to the exact problem that Kara had just brought up. She knew that one of the group would have to be left behind. And while she was loathed to do so, she knew it was necessary.

“I know.” Lena turned to James, giving him an apologetic look. He nodded in understanding. “I’m sorry. I really wish I could bring you.” Lena said, making a mental note to talk to him privately later.

“It’s okay Lena, don’t worry. I understand. Someone had to be left out.” He smiled at her reassuringly. Lena sighed.

“Can we talk later?” She asked him. He nodded.

“Sure, just come find me later.”

II.

The rest of the day went fairly smoothly. Lena was relieved to get that off her chest and out of the way. And during her free period, she went to go find James. She found him on the quad, throwing a football around with Clark Kent, a friend of his that was a Son of Poseidon. She approached him. “James, can we talk?” She asked. James nodded, throwing the football to Clark.

“I’ll be back man.” He said, his friend nodding. The two went over to an empty spot on the quad.

“I really am sorry.” Lena apologized again. James placed a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay Lena. Don’t beat yourself up. You and I aren’t as close as the rest. I’ll be fine. I’ve got other friends here. Yeah, I wish I could go to help you, but I know the rest of the group will do that for me. But you’ve got my phone number if you need it. And of course, you can just throw a coin in a rainbow.” He laughed. “But really, don’t feel bad.” Lena threw him a grateful look.

“You know, it was a really hard choice between Alex and you. But…” Lena started but James cut her off.

“You didn’t want to separate her and Maggie.” Lena nodded.

“I’m not that cruel. I also thought that if I wanted to bring Kara, Alex was part of the package.” Lena said with a small laugh. James also chuckled.

“You’re right. Alex loves her sister, but she can be a little overprotective at times. I don’t think Alex would have accepted you bringing both Maggie and Kara without including her.” James said, patting Lena’s arm. “Seriously, though, make sure you come back safe. It’s dangerous where you’re going. You’re kind of like the little sister of the group now, we’d all be sad if something were to happen to you.” Lena’s heart warmed. She was getting more used to having friends that really cared for her, but being validated like that still made her heart skip a beat.

“I’ll make sure we all come back safe. I promise.” Lena said with confidence that she wasn’t really feeling. James pulled the shorter girl in for a hug.

“I’ll miss you guys.” He said. Lena hesitantly wrapped her own arms around James. She still wasn’t used to physical contact, unless it was Kara, but she was getting better.

“We’ll all miss you too.”

III.

While Lena was talking to James, Kara and Mon-El were taking a break from sparring, instead, hanging out in the lobby of the Zeus dorm. Since Zeus didn’t have that many kids, it was almost always empty. “So, this quest…” Mon-El said to his friend. Kara nodded.

“I kind of can’t believe the gods decided that Lena was supposed to lead the quest. Not that I doubt her abilities, because she’s super powerful, maybe even more than me, but she’s also so young.” Kara said, concerned. Even though Kara herself was only 20, she had a long time to come to terms with her powers and grow into them. As had the rest of the group. But Lena was new to this life. She knew nothing of it before she started at Demos a few months ago.

“Yeah, she is but that’s why she has us,” Mon-El said confidently. “We’re all going to help her!” Kara nodded absentmindedly. “Not to mention it gives you time to get closer to her,” Mon-El said in a suggestive tone. Kara frowned.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She tried to deflect, but he just shook his head.

“Don’t think that you can hide your feelings about her from me, Kara. Or anyone in the group for that matter. We all know you have a thing for her. Except for Lena herself apparently.” Kara sighed.

“Am I that obvious?” She relented and he nodded sympathetically.

“Kind of. You’re affectionate with all of us Kara, but there’s something else in the way your face lights up when Lena walks into the cafeteria or when she gives you a hug. Which by the way, you know she doesn’t really hug anyone besides you.” Kara blinked, she hadn’t noticed that she was too busy just being wrapped up in paying attention to Lena.

Over the past few months, Lena had opened up to Kara a little bit about her life before Demos. She knew that Lena came from an extremely wealthy and influential family though she said she never felt like she fit in there. She had even brushed over her unstable relationship with her adoptive mother, but never lingered long on it, rather talking about her brother, Lex.

Kara knew that Lena looked up to Lex, adored him. He was her hero when they were younger, but when Lex went off to college and got involved in his own life, he kind of left Lena behind. She was bitter about it for a while but eventually learned to harden her heart and get over the pain. Kara always felt her own heart tug at Lena’s stories. All she wanted to do was grab Lena’s hand, hug her and never let her go. And in a different part of her mind, she wanted to be the one to show Lena that love didn’t have to end in heartbreak.

“Earth to Kara!” The blonde was jolted out of her thoughts.

“I’m sorry, what?” Kara said, a little startled. Mon-El just laughed.

“You were thinking about Lena, weren’t you?” He asked and she just smiled sheepishly.

“You’re already in deep and you don’t even know it.”

IV.

At dinner that evening, the group were just enjoying the evening together, knowing that they would probably be leaving campus that weekend. Winn and James were caught up in a conversation about a new gadget that Winn was trying to develop. Maggie and Alex were also listening in, inputting their own contribution where they could. And Kara, Mon-El, and Lena were wrapped up in their own conversation.

“I’m telling you, Lena could totally spank you in a powers battle, Kara!” Mon-El insisted. “You powers of air manipulation wouldn’t even penetrate her light shields.” Lena was just watching Kara and Mon-El trade strategies. She could even really control her photokinesis yet. The manifestation of her powers seemed to be linked to her emotional state so far. And since no one else had these powers, she was kind of on her own in that regard. She assumed that she’d be able to control them as she got older and more experienced, but she didn’t know.

“No way! Besides, Lena doesn’t even have control over her powers yet.” Kara insisted. Mon-El shrugged.

“She will eventually. And then you two have to duke it out.” Lena was about to jump in, but Kara didn’t give her the chance.

“Hey! I’m not going to fight my best friend just because you think she could kick my ass.” Kara said without a second thought. But Lena’s heart skipped another beat. Kara thought of her, Lena Luthor, as her best friend. Even though she hadn’t known her nearly as long as everyone else. Kara and Mon-El seemed to be oblivious to Lena’s inner turmoil, though, so she didn’t say anything. “Right Lena?” Kara said.

“I’m sorry, what?” She asked, a little flustered.

“I said if anything, you’d team up with me and kick Mon-El’s butt.” Lena blinked, having completely missed that part, but nodded.

“Sorry, Mon-El.” She said with a shrug. “What the lady wants, the lady gets you know,” Lena said absentmindedly. Kara’s eyes lit up and Mon-El gave Lena a knowing look that she missed as she went back to her food. Mon-El wanted to roll his eyes. Lena was even more oblivious than Kara was sometimes.

V.

That night after everyone had gone to bed, Lena laid in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She was going to go talk to J’onn during her free period the next day and they would probably be sent off on their quest that weekend. Lena couldn’t help her stomach tying in knots at the thought. She knew she had her friends, that she was strong enough to do this, but she couldn’t shake the strange feeling that something was going to go wrong.

With her thoughts buzzing in her head, she started to drift off to sleep.

In her dreams, she was brought back to the stone wasteland that she had dreamt of before. This time, she had use of her limbs and wandered the area, examining the stone ruins. And again, like that first night, the same man appeared before her again, in a brilliant flash of light. Lena shielded her eyes before looking at him. His eyes were still as captivating as they were the first time she saw them, this time his cape red in color, sword still at his hip. “I know you’re coming.” He said, his smooth voice causing the hairs on Lena’s arms to stand up.

“Be careful how you proceed. One wrong move will doom you and all your friends.” He said, staring at her. Lena took a step back, but this time, unlike the first, found use of her voice.

“Who are you? What did you do to me?” Lena questioned, thinking back to the mark he branded on her wrist. He chuckled, taking a step towards her.

“Think of it as a gift.” He said cryptically. “A mark.” Lena frowned, rubbing her wrist where the mark had once been. “Before the end, you’ll be thanking me for it, Lena Luthor.”

“How do you know my name?” She asked again. The man shook his head.

“Answers you are not yet ready for. You’ll know in due time. But not today. I have left you a gift in the real world, though. Use it well.” He said, giving her an intense stare before disappearing again in a flash of light. Lena jolted away, the sun just barely starting to peek over the horizon. Lena sat up in her bed, looking out the window when a glow caught her attention elsewhere.

On one of the weapon hooks on her wall, hung a golden sword, glowing a pale yellow color. Lena cautiously got out of her bed, padding over to the hook on the wall. She picked up the sword and examined it. It was about the same length as the sword she used to spar against Kara, except the metal was made of what looked like a golden material, though she knew it couldn’t have been. Gold was an extremely soft metal and an effective sword wouldn’t be made of the metal without some other mineral to strengthen it.

She looked at the hilt of the sword. There were carved symbols on the hilt, with the crossguard bearing the same mark that she had burned onto her wrist. Lena frowned as she gave the sword a small swing. It was perfectly balanced and it seemed like it was made for her. The sword began to glow a brighter yellow color. Lena hissed as she felt a pain in her wrist, the symbol on her wrist manifesting itself again, glowing the same yellow color. Just as quickly as it came, it faded the sword also fading from existence, like it had never been there.

Lena frowned, examining her hand, turning it over so she could inspect it. Nothing out of the ordinary. There was no evidence that the weapon had ever been there, nor the mark. Lena felt herself growing concerned at what this all meant. But she just shook her head. She had bigger things to deal with than her strange dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, so James is the odd one out. I really had a hard time trying to pick who I had to leave honestly. I think I could have either left out Winn or James honestly, but basically, with Alex going, there's already going to be a child of Athena. And I think Winn's abilities of a Son of Hephestus are going to be important on the journey. But I did want to establish that Lena really hated to leave James behind. Because while they don't interact as much as the others, he's still her friend. And they still do have a relationship that isn't written about as much here since I always knew that once this beginning part was over, he wasn't going to have a prominent role until later in the series. 
> 
> So yeah, Kara, Alex, Winn, Mon-El, and Maggie are the ones going with Lena. And Lena is still having dreams... Significant or not? Who knows. I do, but that's besides the point. I'm enjoying this story a lot. It's fun to write. 
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	8. Departure

I.

The group gathered in J’onn’s office that same morning. It was a Saturday and the group was going to be sent off on their quest that day. They had all met for breakfast, giving James their goodbyes with promises to call him and keep him in the loop as much as they could. And now all six of them were waiting as J’onn set his hands on his desk, standing behind it. He looked to Lena. “I see you’ve made your choices.” He said to her with a small smile and a knowing look. Lena glanced at her friends, then back to the headmaster, nodding. 

“Yes, sir.” She said stiffly. Her nerves were back and in full force. Kara must have noticed Lena’s uncomfortable posture because she reached down and grabbed Lena’s hand in hers. Lena’s heart skipped a beat, but the warmth of Kara’s hand in hers allowed her to relax a little bit. She chanced a glance at Kara, but her friend was still staring straight ahead at J’onn, though there was a small smile on her face. 

“Very well. I’m assuming Miss. Luthor has filled you all in on your mission?” He asked everyone and they all nodded. 

“Yup! We’re going to go spy on the Titans.” Mon-El said brightly. Everyone have him a sharp look. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “I mean… we are, aren’t we?” He said sheepishly. Alex rolled her eyes at the junior. 

“Yes Mon-El, that is your mission. I just have a few words of warning before you leave. I’d caution you to keep to land travel as much as possible. Kara, I know you’re a daughter of Zeus, but traveling on the road will give everyone a better chance of dealing with any rogue monsters that may cross your path,” He said, giving Kara a pointed look. 

“Shouldn’t this be a surprise mission, though? Why would there be monsters after us?” Winn questioned. Maggie was the one to answer before J’onn could. 

“You can never be too careful Winn. We believe that the Titans know nothing, but who knows? Maybe they do,” She said, J’onn nodding at her. 

I would much rather you not put yourselves in a situation that could put you into a corner. Traveling on a plane would not leave you very many options. Land travel gives you more routes of escape,” Lena nodded in understanding. 

“We can take my car,” Alex offered. Lena looked up at the senior. 

“You have a car?” She asked. Alex nodded. 

“I do,” She confirmed. “I don’t usually have anywhere to drive it since it’s usually safer for all of us to stay at the school, but my parents got me one after I had been officially claimed,” Alex said with a shrug. Kara rolled her eyes. 

“Show off,” She mumbled under her breath. Lena hid a laugh, having heard Kara’s words. 

“It’s settled then. You’ll leave as soon as possible. Thank you, Ms. Danvers,” J’onn said, nodding approvingly at Alex. “If you’ll give me a second alone with Lena, I’ll send you on your way.” Everyone nodded and filed out of the room. Kara was the last to leave, loathe to drop Lena’s hand, but she did, giving her friend a reassuring smile before following everyone else out. Lena’s grip felt empty without Kara’s fingers entwined with hers. 

“Miss. Luthor. I want to wish you the best of luck.” J’onn said, sitting down at his desk. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this for you and say it’s going to be easy. I get the feeling that this is going to test your limits; your strength, your will, your determination, and your loyalty.” Lena bit her lip, having been feeling the same since she had spoken with the Oracle. “Your friends will be there to help you, but your decisions rest on your shoulders. Only you can make the right choices for yourself.” Lena nodded curtly. 

“I understand, sir. I won’t let you down.” J’onn smiled at her confidence. 

“It’s not me you have to worry about Lena.” He said with a nod. “Now, I believe your friends are waiting for you.” He said. Lena nodded again, turning to exit the office where everyone was standing around. Kara approached her friend first. 

“This is so exciting! We’re going on a quest together!” She said brightly. Lena had to chuckle at Kara’s exuberance. But she nodded. 

“Indeed we are. So, what do we all need to do before we set off?” She asked, directing her question to everyone. Alex seemed to be the one who was most prepared. 

“I’ll be driving, so we’ve got transportation covered. I don’t exactly know what supplies everyone wants to bring…” She trailed off, looking at the group. 

“I’ve got my toolkit,” Winn said happily, patting the backpack he had slung over his shoulder. “Gift from my dad.” He said without further explanation. 

“I’ll need to go to my room and grab my sword,” Kara admitted, and Mon-El nodded. 

“Same here. Probably should bring my shield too.” Lena furrowed her brow. 

“You have a shield?” She questioned, never having seen the son of Ares use one. Mon-El shrugged. 

“Yeah. I’ve been trying to work on my swordplay without it.” Lena raised an eyebrow but Kara leaned over. 

“I’ll explain it to you later.” She whispered. 

“Maggie and I have got our stuff covered, right babe?” She asked her girlfriend, who nodded with a wide smile on her face. 

“Yep!” Maggie said, patting the dagger sheath attached to her thigh. Alex had a backpack as well, along with a short staff strapped to her back. Lena also had Mon-El’s old gladius attached to her hip. She had gotten used to training with it and her friend said she should use it as long as she needed. He didn’t need it anymore after all. Lena was touched that he was willing to gift her with her first weapon, but that made it all the more special. 

“Looks like it’s just you and Mon-El who are unprepared this morning Kara.” Alex teased her sister. Kara pouted. 

“Hey! I was hungry.” She defended herself. She turned to Lena. “Want to walk to my dorm with me?” Lena shrugged and nodded, agreeing to keep Kara company on the walk over. 

“Alright you three, the rest of us will be waiting in the parking lot for you. Don’t be too long.” Alex said, taking charge. Lena found she didn’t mind it much. Alex had this air of authority about her and was far more organized and experienced than the rest of them. Kara smiled, steering Lena off in the direction of her dorm, Mon-El heading to the forges where he had left his sword earlier when he was sharpening it. 

II.

“So, excited?” Kara asked. Lena shrugged. 

“I mean. I guess? I’m still kind of nervous, you know?” Lena mumbled. Her friend nodded sympathetically. 

“If it makes you feel better, this is my first quest too,” Kara said. “I’ve always wanted to go, but just never had the opportunity to go until now.” Lena smiled softly. 

“I’m glad I get to give you your first opportunity then,” Lena said. “I’m glad you’re coming along to be honest.” She also admitted. Kara smiled brightly, wrapping an arm around Lena’s shoulder as the pair continued walking. 

“I’m happy you picked me too.” She said softly. Lena inhaled abruptly, hyper aware of Kara’s arm wrapped around her. “You know, Mon-El is pretty excited too. I think he’s just eager to put his training to practice and bash some monsters.” Kara said with a laugh. Lena joined in with a chuckle. She could certainly see the headstrong, but somehow also lovable son of Ares going toe to toe with a hellhound. 

“I’m sure he is,” Lena said, fiddling with the handle of the sword at her waist. The two finally reached the Zeus dorms. Lena was going to wait for Kara outside, but the exuberant junior grabbed her hand and pulled her inside. Lena had never been inside the Zeus dorms, even though she had been friends with Kara for a few months. They always ended up hanging around the quad, cafeteria, fight pit or sometimes in Lena’s room. Kara always bemoaned Lena’s luck for having an amazing view from her bedroom window. 

The inside of Zeus’ dorm wasn’t too dissimilar from the Apollo dorm. Though instead of the sun imagery and colors, there were more soft blues and grays, with clouds and a large mural of a thunderbolt on one wall. The couches were laid out in a similar way to the Apollo dorm, though. Kara dragged Lena down one of the hallways. “Here, my room is down here. There aren’t really that many other children of Zeus… well ever. Because we’re not supposed to exist. But…” Kara shrugged. “So I’m like my own dorm advisor and get to pick my room and all that. Figured a room on the ground floor would be more convenient.” 

Kara stopped outside a door marked with a 4. She dropped Lena’s hand to open it, then steering Lena inside. “So, what do you think?” Kara asked her friend shyly. Lena looked around, taking in her surroundings. It was very… Kara. Her bed pushed up against one wall, similar in size to Lena’s bed. She had a window above the bed, obviously much smaller than the one Lena had in her room. On the desk was a typewriter for some reason, along with a small desk easel with a piece of paper on it, with a half completed drawing. 

Lena looked around, seeing that Kara hung her broadsword up above the desk on a weapon rack that also held a shorter sword along with a shield with an S on it. “What’s the S stand for?” Lena asked curiously. Kara gave Lena a sad look before answering. 

“It’s not an S. It was my family’s coat of arms. One of the only things I have left from my life before I was living with the Danvers after Zeus found me, was a pendant with that symbol on it. It’s El Mayarah. It means stronger together.” Kara said, pulling the small red and blue pendant out from underneath her shirt. Lena had never noticed the chain that Kara wore. But from it dangled the small token of her previous life. 

“Oh Kara… I’m…” Lena started but Kara cut her off. 

“Don’t be sorry for me Lena,” Kara said, placing a hand on Lena’s shoulder. 

“That wasn’t what I was going to say. I was going to say I’m here whenever you want to talk. I know you asked James to tell me about your past because it’s painful. And I’d never dream of pushing you to relive that. But if you ever need someone… Because I can still hear the hurt in your voice.” Lena said softly and a little cautiously, not wanting to risk offending her friend. Kara’s gaze softened, her face melting from a little defensive to one of adoration. 

“I… Thank you.” She said simply, not being able to come up with any other words other than her gratitude. Maybe someday she would confide in Lena everything. Tell her about her parents, her cousin who turned out to be a son of Poseidon, about her life at home. But for now, Kara just wrapped her arms around Lena’s shoulders, hugging her tightly. Lena, for one, had finally gotten used to Kara’s super strength charged hugs and noticed that when Kara was particularly emotional, she didn’t have as strong of a leash on her grip. It wasn’t enough to hurt, but it was enough to definitely notice. 

She just encircled her own arms around Kara’s waist, placing her forehead on the taller girl’s shoulder. The two stood there for a few minutes in silence. Neither wanting nor willing to step back from the other. They both knew the hug was lasting far too long than was considered friendly, even in the given circumstances, but neither cared. After a few minutes, though, Kara released Lena, going over to the wall to grab her sword. Her back was turned to Lena so the freshman didn’t notice the tears threatening to spill from Kara’s eyes. She took a deep breath, gathering herself, taking the sword from its place off the wall. 

“How exactly do you plan to carry that thing, Kara? It’s not exactly… travel friendly.” Lena said, eyeing the overly large sword in Kara’s hand. The blonde blinked.

“Oh yeah. I forgot you’re new here.” Kara said sheepishly. She flipped open a small section of the hilt, pressing a button that was there. Almost magically, the sword shrunk itself into a small pendant, with a lightning bolt on it, shimmering a light bronze color. “Little bit of Hephaestus magic, courtesy of Winn.” Kara shrugged. “Figured that I couldn’t lug a huge sword all over the place so he managed to modify my sword to do that at the press of a button.” Lena raised an eyebrow. 

“That’s handy.” She said, getting a closer look at the pendant that Kara held out to her. She nodded. 

“Yup. He’s one of my best friends. Of course, I had to help him carry a bunch of scrap metals to his room when he cashed in that favor. A lot of heavy trips, let me tell you that much.” Kara groaned.

“It sounds like you and your super-powered strength  _ struggled _ .” Lena teased. Kara rolled her eyes. 

“There was a lot of metal he needed!” She defended. She then went over to a shelf and opened up a case that was sat on top of it that Lena hadn’t noticed. The blonde pulled out a small dagger and a sheath, strapping it around her bicep, sticking the dagger into it. “Never know when you’re going to get disarmed,” Kara explained with a shrug at Lena’s inquisitive look. Lena nodded, making a mental note to get Kara to teach her to use a dagger at some point in the future when they came back. 

“Is that it? Or do you have a whole suit of armor to pull out from under your bed too?” Lena jested. Kara chuckled. 

“Nope. I think Winn is trying to develop some field armor, though. Long term project of his. Trying to create celestial bronze armor that you can move in easily, but still have it be resistant to sword strikes and whatever. It’s a little bit hard to follow him when he gets engrossed in something, I’m sure you’ve noticed.” Kara said, and Lena nodded. She loved Winn to death, but his mind worked in a different way from the rest of them. He saw the world in a more constructive and abstract way. He could visualize concepts and inventions in his mind where others would need to see tangible blueprints and plans. “But yeah that’s everything. I think it’s time to go meet everyone else in the parking lot. Alex is probably eager to get on the road.” Kara rolled her eyes. “She barely ever gets to drive her car so she always jumps at the chance.” 

Lena nodded, looking around Kara’s room one more time. It was very much a reflection of Kara’s personality. She made another mental note to hang out with Kara in her dorm room more often. There was so much to Kara that she had yet to discover. And Lena found herself wanting desperately to find out as much as she could. But she had to come back from this quest alive first. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, they're finally setting off! And we get Kara and Lena development too. I want to develop their friendship before their relationship, hence it being considered a slowburn. I really just love their platonic relationship too. Not to say I'm not completely in love with a romance between them, but their friendship is just as precious. And important to explore. 
> 
> I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story. I've gotten a number of encouraging messages and happy people telling me that they love the story. Which I'm glad for before I'm completely in love with this story as well. 
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	9. Beginnings

I.

Lena and Kara met the others in the parking lot, standing around Alex’s car. Mon-El had his own sword attached to his hip, talking animatedly to Winn about something. Alex and Maggie were off in their own little world it seemed as well. Winn was the first to notice Lena and Kara approach. “Hey guys! Got your sword and all that?” He asked Kara. She grinned, holding out the lightning bolt pendant for him to see. Winn brightened seeing his handiwork at play and gave her a thumbs up.

“Yup. Are we all ready to go?” Kara asked the group. Alex nodded.

“Pretty much, We should probably figure out the route we’re going to take first, though,” She said, leaning back against the hood of her car. Lena nodded in agreement.

“That should probably be the first order of business. We know that Mount Othrys is in San Francisco.” Lena said with a shrug. Demos was on the east coast, New York City to be more specific, so they were a whole country away from their destination. Alex pulled a map out of her backpack, turning around to open it and spread it out on the car behind her.

“Okay. So, I’m thinking we take Interstate 80. It’s basically a clear shot from here to there.” Alex said, tracing the line of the freeway on the map.

“Do you think we should stick to more backroads or something? If we do run into some rogue monsters?” Mon-El asked. Alex shook her head.

“No. I don’t think that’s necessary. Besides, some of these long stretches of freeway might be easier for us to drive faster on if we do need to get away. Some of the backroads will require some really difficult terrain.” Alex reasoned. Maggie agreed with her girlfriend, nodding.

“So it’ll be a 43 hour drive in total, not counting traffic, pit stops and any… unexpected surprises.” Winn said, having pulled out his phone and checked the travel time. “Which by the way, how are we going to pay for this?” Lena jumped in to answer him.

“I can cover anything we need. Hotel rooms, gas, food. Whatever.” She said with a shrug. She may be a halfblood, but she was also still a Luthor. Much to Lillian’s displeasure, Lionel hadn’t cut her off from the Luthor wealth. Though, judging by the looks on everyone’s faces, they didn’t really realize who her family was exactly. Lena figured she shouldn’t have been surprised. When she told Winn her last name, he hadn’t even blinked an eye.

“Are you sure Lena? It’s going to be a pretty expensive trip,” Maggie asked her friend. “We can all pitch in something. You know, share hotel rooms, Kara can probably cut down on her food intake.” Maggie teased. Kara just pouted, folding her arms and sticking her tongue out at her sister’s girlfriend. But Lena shook her head.

“No, please don’t worry about the cost. It’s the least I can do. Repayment for agreeing to come along with me.” Lena said a little unsure of herself. She got a couple of sympathetic looks as Winn wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Hey! Don’t worry about that. We all jumped at the opportunity to come. I know James would have too if you had been able to bring another person. We’re your friends, Lena! We stick together. You don’t have to feel the need to repay us for anything.” He said earnestly. Lena looked up and saw everyone nodding in agreement. Lena gave them a small smile.

“Thank you guys. But really, I’m a Luthor. I can cover it and still have more money than I would ever realistically need.” She said with a shrug. On some level, Lena was glad her last name didn’t carry the weight in their world as it did in the mortal world. When she was younger, she was always either treated like glass because she was from one of the most influential families in the country. Or with polite disdain. People jealous of her family’s prestige and wealth.

She saw Maggie frown a bit before it dawned on her. A look of realization on her face. “Wait. You’re related to _the_ Luthors?” She asked incredulously. Lena had to stifle a laugh. Maggie had been calling her Little Luthor for months and it apparently never dawned on her. But she nodded, with a smirk on her face. “I can’t… wait. God. I can’t believe I missed it. I feel so…” Maggie trailed off, the rest of the group looking curiously at her. Lena just shrugged.

“I never really advertised it. But I admit, I’m kind of baffled no one has put the pieces together yet.” She replied.

“Wait, what now? What is going on?” Mon-El asked, Kara, nodding in agreement. But Winn’s eyes lit up with a bright look behind them and Alex just laughed, shaking her head at her girlfriend.

“Wait. You’re Lionel Luthor’s daughter?” Winn asked excitedly and Lena nodded with a smile.

“Adoptive daughter, but yeah.” She shrugged.

“Why is that so significant?” Kara asked inquisitively. Winn turned to his friend.

“LuthorCorp is only the biggest and most advanced tech company in the country! I know you, Mon-El and Alex have been isolated inside Demos for… well, a long time. But I remember. LuthorTech was the most prestigious stuff that a guy could have.” Winn gushed, Maggie, nodding in agreement.

“I knew your name was Luthor, but I figured it was a common enough name that well…” Maggie said awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck.

“I don’t really try to parade it around,” Lena said quickly. “It usually brings me more problems. People being friends with me for my name and what I can do for them, you know?” Lena said nonchalantly. It was normal for her, but Kara quickly piped up.

“You know we’re all your friends because we like you. Right?” Lena nodded in confirmation.

“I think this reaction right now was enough to confirm it if I had any doubts.” Lena chuckled. Kara nodded with a sigh.

“Anyway… Now that we’ve got funding out of the way I guess if you’re sure?” Kara gave Lena a small look. Lena shrugged and nodded with an eyebrow raised. “And we’ve got our route picked out, let's get going?” Kara asked the group. Everyone nodded. Alex took her keys out of her pocket, pressing a button to open up the trunk.

She dropped her staff in the trunk, placing her backpack next to it. Everyone else put their weapons and supplies in the trunk, except Kara who kept the pendant on her person. “So, how exactly are we going to fit everyone in?” Lena said, eyeing the backseat. Alex shrugged.

“You four figure it out, Maggie is sitting shotgun,” Alex said as her girlfriend looked pretty smug.

“Have fun with that guys.” She prodded, going over to the passenger’s side door. Lena blinked.

“Uh… So, how do you guys want to do this?” She asked, looking at Kara and Mon-El, the tallest of the four of them. Mon-El scratched his head.

“I guess you and Kara could sit by the doors, while Lena and I share the middle?” Winn offered. Kara nodded.

“Good as any plan I guess. I call dibs sitting next to Lena.” Kara said quickly.

“Hey! What if I wanted to sit next to her!” Mon-El protested.

“Tough luck. Maybe next time.” Kara said cheekily. Lena just rolled her eyes, opening the door and settling into the middle. Winn got in right next to her, Mon-El following. Kara had gone over to the other door, squeezing in next to Lena. The four managed to fit snugly in the back, though Lena was nearly sitting in Kara’s lap. But neither girl really seemed to mind that much. In fact, Kara wrapped her arms around Lena’s stomach, holding her in place.

“I’m not too heavy or uncomfortable am I?” Lena asked, glancing back at Kara, who shook her head.

“Not at all. Now I have a place to rest my head.” Kara teased, putting her chin on Lena’s shoulder. Both girls were so engrossed in each other, they neglected to notice both Winn and Mon-El giving them a knowing look.

“You all buckled up best you can be back there?” Alex asked, looking in the rearview mirror.

The four nodded. Alex put her key in the ignition. The car roared to life. “Welp here goes nothing,” Alex said, pulling out of the parking lot and out into the real world for the first time in a long time.

II.

As they drove out of the city, everyone except Lena and Winn were gawking at the sights. Alex, Kara and Mon-El had basically lived at least the last seven years. With Alex’s parents being teachers at the school, their daughters lived there full time. Mon-El, who was orphaned like Kara was, did as well. Maggie also stayed at the school, having been kicked out at a young age for being gay. She had been a wanderer for a while before one of the school satyrs had found her and escorted her to Demos, where she had been living ever since.

And that left Lena and Winn. Lena obviously being only a few months into her first year wasn’t particularly floored by the city. And Winn took the occasional trip home to see his family. Lena watched Kara in amusement as the young halfblood looked up at the many skyscrapers and highrises with a look of awe. “This is so cool. I’ve seen pictures and stuff, but it’s been so long since I’ve seen it with my own eyes.” She said reverently. Lena took advantage of Kara’s distracted state, allowing herself to just look at the blonde.

She drank in Kara’s soft, blonde hair, her deep blue eyes, her strong jawline. Lena knew that underneath the cute dresses and cardigans she wore during the normal school day, Kara was a very attractive woman. Lena would have to have been blind to not see it. When she watched Kara spar, the daughter of Zeus changed into a tank top and a pair of shorts, showing off her impressive musculature that Lena may have spent an entire day looking at. Watching the sweat drip from Kara’s forehead, her biceps flexing as she held off Mon-El’s sword swings. Lena shivered slightly at the memory.

As Alex drove onto I-80 and left the city behind, Kara relaxed back into her seat, pulling Lena back against her body. Lena stiffened slightly before allowed herself to relax against Kara’s body. “So, are we there yet?” Mon-El asked, breaking the silence. All he got in response was a glare from everyone in the car.

“Don’t you dare start that or you’re going to find yourself ejected from this car and you can hitchhike your own way there.” Alex threatened. Maggie and Kara giggled at Alex’s serious tone of voice. Mon-El shrugged.

“Just trying to lighten the mood.” He said, leaning back against his seat, looking out the window.

“Hey Lena, Maggie was telling me about some of the stuff you guys talk about in Ancient Greek,” Winn said to the girl sitting next to him. “A lot of it sounds really interesting. Celestial bronze bullets definitely sound doable.” He said with an excited look on his face.

“Really? I was just throwing out ideas. I figured that if we’ve gone so long without modernizing our weaponry, there had to have been a reason.” She said with a shrug.

“Tradition mostly. And convenience. We know how to make celestial bronze swords and arrow tips. I don’t think anyone has tried to adapt it into more modern weapons. Though I do admit I’ve been thinking about monster grenades.” He confessed. Mon-El jumped in.

“Dude, those sound awesome! What would they do?” He asked excitedly.

“So, I’ve been trying to come up with a way to heat up the bronze so it’ll explode and shatter into shrapnel. That way it’ll harm monsters and not humans. I’ve yet to find the perfect design or explosion yet though. It’s still a work in progress. I’m hoping that I might be able to test some while we’re questing.” He finished. Lena nodded thoughtfully.

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do. I might not have the talents of a child of Hephaestus, but I was raised a Luthor. I know my way around human technology. Maybe some of that could help.” She offered.

“That would be awesome! Maybe with both of us, we can come up with some unique new designs.” Winn said happily. The two continued talking about possible plans, Maggie jumping in every so often to augment Lena’s recap of their discussions in class. Mon-El and Kara mostly just listened, inputting their own opinions and questions every so often.

Lena couldn’t remember the last time she had enjoyed a conversation about inventing and technology so much. Though she was also hyper aware of Kara absentmindedly threading their fingers together, the blonde playing her her hand.

III.

Kronos sat back in his chair, chuckling. “My son thinks he can stop the coming storm.” He remarked. “And now he’s sending a pitiful party of heroes to spy on us.” He said to four of his advisors, his brothers, as they sat around a circular table. “I would almost be insulted that he thought he could sneak this past without my knowledge if it wasn’t so amusing.”

One of the Titans, Krios, The Titan Lord of the South slammed his fist on the stone table in front of them. “We should destroy them now Kronos.” He insisted. Kronos held up his hand to silence his brother.

“Patience, one of them is important. We can’t afford to kill them now.” He reasoned.

“Then kidnap the one, and kill the others. They aren’t important.” This time a different titan at the table intervened.

“No. Killing the others will only prolong the process. They all need to reach Mount Othrys alive.” A third Titan said calmly. Kronos nodded in his direction.

“Iapetus is right. But there isn’t any reason why we can’t send a message of sorts.” Kronos said with a chuckle. “I think the Chimera will get out point across nicely.” The four Titans nodded in agreement.

“If we must. Toying with these heroes could be dangerous Kronos. You know this.” Krios continued. “One of them holds a greater power than the rest.” Kronos was about to speak, but Hyperion, The Titan Lord of the East jumped in first.

“Yes Krios, we are all well aware. But she will not pose a problem.” He said with some venom in his voice. Krios scoffed.

“This one is on you then Hyperion. You are Lord Kronos’ second in command now. Now that Atlas is out of the picture.” Hyperion nodded in agreement.

“Yes, she is. I promise you, brother, she will not be a problem. Trust me.” He said with a cunning smile on his face. Krios nodded stiffly, getting up from the table.

“I will send the Chimera after our little friends.” He said with a bow, leaving his brothers alone. Kronos turned to Iapetus and Koios, who had not spoken throughout the meeting.

“Leave us, I wish to speak with Hyperion alone.” He commanded. The two Titans nodded, standing and bowing to their leader, leaving the two brothers. Kronos turned his attention to Hyperion, who was sitting to his right.

“You are certain about this? That this plan will not fail. Because it will be on your head, Hyperion.” Kronos said coldly. The Titan just narrowed his eyes.

“I will not fail, brother. I’m certain of it. She just needs a little… encouragement.” He assured Kronos.

“See that you don’t. Because if she is who you say, she will be important in the events to come.” Hyperion’s eyes flared.

“She is. I am certain of it.” He hissed, standing abruptly, picking up his helmet from the table and walking off, his cape flowing behind him. Kronos, now alone at the table, relaxed back into the chair, chuckling to himself.

“Soon my son, you will pay for what you did to us all those centuries ago.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, you didn't expect the Titans to not know about the quest, did you? You're silly if you did. Anyone else interested in their fixation on a certain halfblood?
> 
> Anyways, yup, they're off. I kind of enjoyed the idea that they didn't know that Lena was a Luthor. Also since Lena was off at boarding school for most of her teenage years and she was kept out of the national and international spotlight, she was kind of like... the family's dirty little secret. At least, in Lillian's eyes.
> 
> Also, sorry for any contextual mistakes. I wrote this chapter at 3 AM.
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	10. Night

I.

Everyone was getting weary at the twelve-hour mark so the group decided to stop in Indianapolis for the night. They had made impressive progress for their first day, not running into any monsters or other issues. They had stopped twice on the road in Pennsylvania and another time in Ohio for pits stops. The group tumbling out of the back seat to stretch their legs and for Kara to get food. Lena always tagged along with Kara as the blonde always got an impressive amount of snacks at each stop. 

“I swear Kara, I don’t understand how you stay so thin!” Lena exclaimed as Kara had bought a few bags of chips to add to the other snacks she had gotten at the previous rest area. She just shrugged. 

“High metabolism? I guess.” She said, paying the man at the counter before the two walked back to the car. Winn, as well as Maggie and Alex, had gone to the restroom and Mon-El was exploring the sights around the area. 

“Well, you’re a lucky one.” Lena bemoaned, though she had been sharing Kara’s food in the car anyway. Maggie had teased Kara a few times over it during their trip. 

_ “Hey Little Danvers, I’ve never seen you willing to share food,” Maggie said, looking back at Kara who just pouted.  _

_ “Lena is a special exception,” She shot back, resting her chin on Lena’s shoulder. Lena laughed but felt a slight happy tug at her stomach.  _

_ “I’m flattered, Kara.” She whispered, turning her head slightly so she could whisper in Kara’s ear. She thought she saw Kara’s face blush a slight shade of pink.  _

The pair reached the car, deciding to hop up on the trunk together, wanting to enjoy the sunlight. Lena had always felt a bit more at home in the sun, despite her pale skin and now she knew why. Being a daughter of the sun god, basking in the sun like a cat seemed normal. 

“What do you think we’ll find?” Kara asked, opening one of the bags of chips and offering it to Lena. The freshman accepted a handful, looking thoughtfully at Kara.

“In San Francisco?” She asked for clarification and Kara nodded. She just shrugged. 

“I don’t know. We could find nothing at all. Zeus could just be paranoid. But…” Lena paused, her dreams coming back to her. There was something about them that had set her on edge. Made her think that they and the quest were connected. “But it would probably be foolish to think that. The Gods sent us on this quest for a reason. If we come back empty handed, then that’s okay. But if I’ve learned anything as a Luthor it’s that it’s better to be safe than sorry.” She said, eating one of the chips she had taken from the bag. 

“I guess you’re right. I guess I’m just hoping that it’ll be nothing and that we’ll all come home in one piece.” She said. 

“You’re not homesick already are you?” Lena teased, poking Kara’s side. The blonde jumped a little and stuck her tongue out at Lena.

“No! It’s not even been 24 hours yet. I just…” Kara trailed off. “I want everyone to be okay. I know we haven’t run into trouble yet, but my gut keeps telling me that something is going to go wrong.” Kara admitted sadly. Lena softened her gaze, wrapping her free arm around Kara’s shoulders. 

“It’s going to be okay Kara. We’ll all be fine. If anyone should be worried, it’s probably me. I’ve had the least amount of training of the six of us.” Lena joked. Kara frowned. 

“Yeah, but that’s why you have us. We’ve all got your back.” Kara insisted. Lena smiled, squeezing Kara’s shoulder. 

“I know you do. That’s why I wanted you guys to come. I can trust that you’ll back me up when I need it.” The two stared into each other’s eyes for a couple of minutes in silence. They were jolted out of their own little world by Maggie’s voice. 

“Hey you two lovebirds, time to get going!” The two looked up, a little startled to see Maggie standing by the passenger’s side door, everyone else already in the car. The two looked embarrassed at being caught unawares, but both of them hopped off the trunk and went over to their side, Kara sliding in first, patting her lap when she was settled in. Lena slid in after her, sitting on the blonde’s legs, laying back against her body comfortably. The two had been basically sharing Kara’s singular seat, leaving Winn with the middle and Mon-El with the other side. 

Alex started the car and they were off again.

II.

That evening as they drove into Indianapolis, Lena directed Alex to one of the nicer hotels in the city. She had stayed in the city a couple of times when Lionel had decided to bring her on a business trip. She had begged him to bring her whenever he could so she wasn’t stuck at home with Lillian. Lionel always had something of a soft spot for her, so she was usually able to convince him. 

“Wow Lena, this is a nice place. You sure you can get us a few rooms here?” Alex said as she pulled into the parking lot, idling the car. Lena just nodded. 

“Yeah. Like I said, the Luthor name holds a lot of weight. Just wait here. I’ll be back.” She said, opening the door and sliding off of Kara’s lap. 

“You sure you don’t want someone to come in with you?” Kara asked. Lena just nodded. She’d rather not show her friends this side of her life really. Kara nodded, settling back into her seat, striking up a conversation with Alex. Lena sighed, walking towards the entrance of the building, pulling on her cold Luthor persona that she hadn’t used in months. 

All the heads in the lobby turned as they innately sensed her presence. She smirked to herself, knowing that even if they didn’t recognize who she was, they realized she was important. She approached the desk. 

“I need three rooms for tonight.” She said confidently. The concierge looked at his computer screen. 

“I’m afraid all our rooms are booked for the night kid.” Lena raised an eyebrow at the use of the word kid. “There’s a Motel 6 down the road. Maybe they’ve got an opening.” He said a little condescendingly. Lena chuckled to herself. She was looking forward to putting someone in their place. She hadn’t done so in awhile, not since Demos. But she knew she hadn’t lost her touch. Once a Luthor, always a Luthor. 

“Ah. Well. You see I don’t think you’ve quite grasped what I’ve said. I didn’t ask if you had the rooms. I said I need them.” Lena said icily, handing the guy a black LuthorCorp card that Lionel had given her before she left home. The guy skeptically looked at the card before realization dawned on him and he looked uneasily back at Lena, who had an eyebrow raised. 

“I’m… s-sorry Ms. Luthor. I didn’t realize…” He stuttered, typing furiously away at the keyboard. Lena smirked. It was always so easy. Flash a little bit of the Luthor prestige and everyone was always tripping over themselves to correct their mistakes before they realized who she was. She really didn’t care to do it that often, but she had to admit, it was fun once in awhile. 

She heard a faint ding from the computer and the man behind the front desk grabbed three room keys, nearly shoving them into Lena’s hands. “Here you go, Ms. Luthor. 3 rooms. Top floor. VIP access. On the house. I’m sorry for the… misunderstanding. I’m sure you know that we get delinquents in here all the time. My apologies for all of this.” The guy said nervously. Lena nodded curtly. 

“Of course. I’m glad we got this all straightened out.” She said in a deceptively sweet tone that conveyed a light lacing of venom right beneath the surface. The guy gulped. 

“If there’s anything else you need, please call down the front desk.” He said, tipping his hat as Lena chuckled and walked out the door back to her friends. She let her icy mask drop as she left the building. The rest of the group was still sitting in the car when she got back, chatting amongst themselves. She handed Alex on of the cards through the rolled down window. 

“Three rooms for the night, just like I promised. Paid for in full. VIP access.” She shrugged. Alex frowned slightly. 

“I don’t want to know how you did that, do I?” She asked. Lena shook her head. 

“Probably not.” She replied. Alex nodded firmly once. 

“Okay. Well, Maggie and I will take one room.” She said, rolling up her window and shutting the car off before getting out. 

“I call dibs on sharing with Lena!” Kara jumped out of the car excitedly. “This is going to be so awesome! It’ll be like a sleepover.” She said happily. Lena just chuckled but nodded. She went to hand the other key to Winn. 

“I guess it’s me and you then buddy,” Winn said in Mon-El’s direction, who nodded. Alex had popped the trunk and was grabbing her stuff out of the trunk, slinging the backpack over her shoulder. Winn also grabbed his backpack from the trunk while Lena and Mon-El grabbed their packs and their swords. It was a good thing that the Mist would shield the weapons from the eyes of humans. It would probably be awkward to have to explain why a bunch of young adults were carrying swords on them. 

“C’mon, let’s get settled in for the night,” Alex said, taking Maggie’s hand as the group walked into the hotel to go find their rooms. 

III.

Lena had experience with these kinds of hotel visits from her life with the Luthors, but it was new for everyone else. At least, if Kara’s reactions were any indicator for what everyone else was doing in their own rooms. They were all on the same floor, three doors apart. Currently, Kara was gawking at the large room that they were in. Larger and nicer than a standard hotel room, with a much better view. There were large windows that overlooked the Indianapolis skyline that Kara made a beeline over to. Lena followed her, an amused look on her face. 

“This is amazing Lena! This was normal for you?” She asked, turning to Lena who was staring out the window. She slowly looked at Kara who had an innocent, curious look on her face. Lena smiled and nodded. 

“Yeah. The Luthors were… high society. Nothing but the best you know?” Lena said sadly. Kara could detect the sadness in Lena’s voice, moving closer to her friend, subtly linking their pinkies together. 

“You miss them?” Kara said, even knowing Lena’s history with her family. It was complicated from how Lena described it to her, but Kara knew that somewhere, Lena did miss it. 

“I miss…” Lena paused, trying to come up with the right words. “I missed aspects of it. I don’t and have never really cared for the attention that the Luthor name brought me. Nor did I care for some of the expectations. But I do miss my brother sometimes. And Lionel.” Lena said, purposely omitting Lillian from the list. Kara noticed but didn’t comment. “And yeah, the wealth was nice. I won’t deny that. But it was also lonely. Having all of this,” Lena gestured to the room. “And being mostly alone. Not having a friend to share it with.” Lena said softly. Kara tightened her own pinkie’s grip on Lena’s. 

“Well, you’ve got me now,” Kara said brightly, trying to cheer Lena up. Lena stared out the window. 

“Yeah, I do.” She said without looking over at Kara. Lena looked down at their connected pinkies, smiling at the sight. Her friendship with Kara was special. It was something that Lena had never imagined she would have had in her life. But here she was. Looking over the sparkling lights of the city, standing next to her best and arguably only true friend. She enjoyed the company of the others, Winn and Mon-El especially, they were becoming like her own brothers. But her friendship with Kara was different. She shared things with Kara that she had never told anyone else. Not even Lex. 

She didn’t see Kara as a sister. She couldn’t. Not when she was crushing deeply on her. But Lena didn’t want to make things awkward between them. She couldn’t bare to lose Kara’s friendship. Or strain it. So she kept her real feelings to herself. She was content to just be friends with the daughter of Zeus. Even if it hurt her heart to do it. She knew her heart would shatter, maybe irreparably so, if Kara rejected her.

So instead she turned to Kara and pulled her into a hug, resting her forehead on Kara’s shoulders as the blonde’s arms wrapped themselves around Lena’s waist. “I’m glad you’re my friend Kara,” Lena admitted softly next to Kara’s ear. She thought she felt Kara’s heartbeat increase ever so slightly, but Kara just tightened her grip on Lena, careful not to hurt her with her super strength. 

“I’m glad you’re my friend too Lena,” Kara said back, the two standing there in each other’s arms for what seemed like an hour but in reality was only a couple of minutes. Still, longer than what was considered friendly. But neither one of them really cared. 

IV.

The two eventually separated and decided to get ready for bed. Alex had said she wanted to be on the road by 9. Too early in Kara’s opinion, but the faster they got a start, the further they could get the next day. Lena offered Kara the use of the bathroom first, leaving Lena to her own devices. She sat in front of the lit fireplace with a book she had picked up from the shelf in their room. It wasn’t particularly captivating, but it was something to pass the time. She lost herself in the words before her ears picked up Kara coming out of the bathroom.

Lena looked up to see Kara in a tank top that revealed her muscular arms. Lena gulped at that alone before drifting down to see Kara’s shorts that only came mid thigh on her. Lena blinked, shaking her head slightly to see Kara waiting on an answer for a question that she hadn’t heard. “I’m sorry, what was that?” Lena asked a little sheepishly, putting the book down on the end table. Kara laughed.

“I said the bathroom is all yours,” Kara said, gesturing to the open door. Lena got up from the chair, padding over to the bathroom herself. 

She took a quick shower and brushed her teeth, pulling her own nightshirt over her head. She pulled on a pair of shorts, exiting the bathroom and flipping the light switch. Kara was sitting on the couch next to the fireplace, reading the book that Lena had sent down. Lena smiled, taking in the sight for a second. It seemed so domestic. Kara sitting next to the fire with a book, waiting for her as Lena came out from the bathroom. Lena couldn’t help but think ‘ _ I could get used to this _ .’ 

Kara looked up at Lena, smiling as she patted the couch next to her. Lena went to go sit down next to her friend, snuggling up to her side as she had done occasionally back at Demos.”Ready for bed?” Kara asked and Lena sleepily nodded, yawning. 

“Do you want to take the bed? I can take the couch.” Kara offered, as there was only a single queen sized bed in the rooms they had booked. Lena shook her head quickly. 

“I can’t let you sleep on the couch, Kara! The bed is easily big enough to share.” Lena insisted. She looked up at Kara and caught a slight blush, but she nodded. 

“If you’re sure…” Kara trailed off. Lena was quick to soothe her friend. 

“You’ll have to watch out, though, I tend to migrate towards sources of heat when I’m asleep. I might end up right next to you when we wake up. Or on top of you.” She said with a laugh. 

Kara chuckled, getting up to go turn off the fireplace. Lena also got up from the couch and padded over to the bed. “Left or right side?” She asked as Kara walked over to the bed too, turning off the overhead lights, leaving just the bedside lamp on. She shrugged. 

“Right I guess. I’m not too fussed.” She said. Lena nodded, throwing back the covers on the left side of the bed and sliding in under them. Kara followed suit, sitting up against the pillows for a second. 

“Good night Lena,” Kara said, laying her head down against the pillows, facing her friend. Lena smiled softly, reaching over to turn off the lamp, darkness flooding the room. She settled into the bed herself, sleep quickly overtaking her. 

“Good night Kara.” She said before her eyes closed and Morpheus overtook her. 

She didn’t have dreams that night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of Supercorp filler. Fluff. Cheese since I'm probably one of the most cliche, closet romantics you'll come across. But don't even pretend you didn't love it. 
> 
> Really just was just some more character development, establishing canon personalities and feelings towards each other and stuff. Nothing real interesting to say about it. Some action should come in the next chapter though. 
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	11. New Day

I.

Lena woke up the next morning, a little disorientated as she felt a source of warmth right next to her. As she blinked the sleep out of her eyes, she realized that she had made good on her promise and gravitated towards Kara in her sleep so that she was cuddled right next to her. Lena opened her eyes, seeing that the blonde was still asleep. She smiled as her friend slept. She was even more beautiful when she was sleeping. She was peaceful in a way that Lena didn’t see from her often.

She tried to get up but noticed that Kara’s arm was wrapped around her. Lena smiled to herself, thinking that she could definitely get used to waking up next to Kara like that. But Lena shook the thoughts from her head, trying to gently untangle herself from the blonde sleeping next to her. But her movements weren’t subtle enough and Kara stirred. Lena froze, hoping that Kara wouldn’t think their current position was weird.

Kara’s eyes fluttered open. They widened slightly at seeing Lena looking back at her. “Morning,” Lena said shyly. Kara relaxed a little bit at Lena’s voice, smiling at her friend.

“Morning. What time is it?” Kara asked sleepily.

“Just before sunrise,” Lena said, glancing out the window, a hint of light rising over the horizon. Kara groaned, sinking back against the pillows.

“It’s still too early,” Kara complained, releasing Lena from her grip. Lena sat up, looking down at Kara. For a little ball of sunshine, she really wasn’t a morning person. It was kind of amusing. Lena, on the other hand, had always been an early riser. She enjoyed a cup of coffee and watching the sunrise. Another daughter of Apollo thing she supposed.

“Too early to watch the sunrise with me?” Lena asked. Kara opened one eye, looking warily at Lena. She groaned.

“You can’t give me the puppy eyes this early in the morning. Darn it Luthor!” Kara said with fake irritation. But Kara sat up next to Lena. “Fine. Only because you’re cute.” Kara said without thinking. The two sat in silence for a few seconds, both of them realizing what Kara had just said. Lena blushed a little bit, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. Kara, on the other hand, was borderline horrified. She bit her lip, blinking.

“Do you want a cup of coffee?” Lena asked, breaking the awkwardness between them. Kara nodded eagerly, jumping out of the bed and padding over to the small kitchen they had in their room. She grabbed a coffee pot off the stove, filling it with water. Lena got up from the bed as well, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She had slept fairly well that night, no strange dreams plaguing her mind. Which was a plus in her book.

She walked over to Kara, placing her elbows on the counter as the two waited for the water to boil. “You’re not an early riser for someone so… energetic all the time.” Lena commented. Kara just shrugged.

“I like my sleep. What can I say.” She said. “You know, I’ve always pictured you as the type of person to enjoy watching sunrises. I guess I was right in that regard.”

Lena nodded. She had enjoyed watching the sunrise for as long as she could remember. Lillian rarely woke early, so it gave her a chance to have some time to herself before the snide comments started for the day. And then when she had been shipped off to boarding school, she continued her ritual, taking comfort in the routine. It had really just stuck with her throughout her life.

“Yeah. It’s peaceful. It’s like… you’re watching a new day begin. All of the hardships of the previous day finally gone with new light. So you can make the most of the new day.” Lena shrugged. Kara raised an eyebrow.

“Wow, that’s deep.” Kara teased. Lena just rolled her eyes.

“The water is boiling.” She said, pointing to the pot.

II.

The two sat down on the couch next to the windows, both with hot cups of coffee in their hands. The sun had begun to peek over the horizon as the girls drank their coffee in silence. It wasn’t an uncomfortable one. The two were content to just be in each other’s presence as they watched Apollo usher in a new day. “Are you nervous?” Kara asked her friend out of the blue. Lena frowned.

“About what?” She asked.

“This whole… quest.” Lena raised an eyebrow.

“I mean… no more than you’d expect. Why?” She asked. Kara sighed.

“I feel like I shouldn’t be. I’m a daughter of Zeus. We’re supposed to be known for our leadership skills and sometimes bullheadedness. But all I can feel is apprehension. Like there’s something brewing right underneath the surface of all of this.” Lena set her coffee down on the end table next to her. She wrapped her arm around Kara’s shoulder.

“I promise you that everything will be okay. Because I can’t know that. But I can promise you that I will do everything I can to get everyone home safely. No one will get left behind. We’re a… family Kara. We stick together.” Lena said, the words somewhat foreign on her tongue. But if it meant soothing Kara’s fears, she would say whatever she had to. Kara placed her coffee down on the end table, turning to Lena, hugging her friend.

“I just don’t want to lose anyone. I’ve lost enough already.” Lena could hear the tears in Kara’s voice. Lena just held Kara in her arms, her heart aching for her friend. Kara had lost a lot in her life. Her family. Her friends. Her city.

“I know,” Lena said simply. She didn’t give Kara any other words. She just sat in Kara’s arms, allowing her friend to let all of her feelings out.

III.

A little while later, all of the group were down in the lobby with all their stuff. Lena went up to the desk to check out, noticing the same concierge was at the desk from the previous night. He just stuttered and accepted the cards Lena handed him, tipping his hat to her nervously. Lena smirked, a little amused at the lasting effect she had on him. She walked back over to her friends. “Alright, we’re all taken care of, ready to head out?” She asked. Maggie glanced at the man at the desk, eyeing the back of Lena’s head uncertainly.

“Damn Little Luthor, what did you do to the poor guy? Threaten to murder his friends and family?” Lena rolled her eyes.

“No. I just… threw the Luthor name around a little bit.” She said, deflecting the statement. Alex raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. Mon-El and Winn laughed a bit, the former man giving his friend a thumbs up.

“Didn’t know you had a mean bone in your body Lena.” Mon-El teased. Lena narrowed her eyes playfully.

“I’m sure there’s a lot about me that you don’t know Mon-El.” She snarked back.

“Yeah, but I bet Kara does. Since you share everything with her.” He said suggestively. Lena blinked as Kara sputtered a bit. She hit Mon-El on the shoulder. “Wow, damn Kara. Uncalled for!” She just glared at him and he shook his head to himself. “Fine. I’ll stop.” He said murmuring something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like ‘when you and Lena finally pull your heads out of your asses and kiss each other already.’ But both girls had already turned their attention to Alex, who was pulling out a map.

“So I’m thinking we should probably try to get to Nebraska tonight? I checked last night, it’s about a 9 to 10-hour drive. We can stop in Lincoln for the night. Grab a hotel there and then see what’s next.” The group nodded in agreement with Alex’s suggestion. The six halfbloods exited the hotel, walking over to Alex’s car. Maggie, as usual, went around to the passenger’s side door, Alex driving and the remaining four piling into the back.

It seemed that Lena and Kara had found a nice arrangement of Lena sitting on Kara’s lap, so Kara slid into the seat first, Lena following her and sitting down on top of Kara. “I’m sitting next to Lena and Kara this time Winn!” Mon-El insisted, though everyone knew it was probably going to be more uncomfortable for his larger frame. But Winn shrugged, opening the door and gesturing for Mon-El to get in. The son of Ares sidled up next to the two girls, smiling happily. Winn got in last, shutting the door behind him. Alex put her keys in the ignition and started the car. “You guys secured back there?” She asked. All four of them nodded. They were secured as best they could be really. Alex nodded, backing out of the parking spot she was in, and heading back out onto the road, getting back on the freeway.

Mon-El decided he wanted to talk combat for the drive that day. The previous day they had been talking tech which he and Kara both weren’t too interested in, except for its combat applications. So he took control of the conversation, coming up with all sorts of theoretical situations for them to talk about. “So if you had to fight one of the Gigantes, which god would you want on your side?” He asked.

“Artemis,” Kara said without a second thought. Lena raised an eyebrow.

“Sounds like you’ve thought about this before, Kara.” She teased. Kara just shrugged.

“It makes a certain amount of tactical sense really. I’m really a charge in and fight in close combat. She’s a master archer. Long distance and short distance.” She said simply. Lena nodded in understanding. It did make some sense. “What about you Mon-El?” Kara asked her friend.

“Gotta be my dad. What could be a better fight? One of the Gigantes vs Ares and one of his sons. Battle of the ages.” Mon-El said eagerly. The whole car laughed at his enthusiasm. For the next few hours, Mon-El kept coming up with different scenarios ranging from fighting one of the Gods themselves to what weapons they would want to use in a fight against a Hydra.

Lena found herself enjoying the conversation immensely. While she liked the tech talk she had with Winn the previous day, there was something about battle strategy that she found particular joy in. It was challenging. Like a puzzle that had no right answer. It was frustrating, in a good way. She would come up with an answer and someone else would counter her answer with some other circumstances.

IV.

About halfway into their trek, Alex decided to take a pit stop in Iowa. Everyone was getting a little fidgety and Kara, as usual, was getting hungry. So Alex pulled into the next rest stop. “Alright, guys, time for a break.” She said, turning off the engine and getting out of the car to stretch her legs. Lena opened her own door, getting off of Kara’s lap and out of the car. She offered her hand to Kara, who took it and the daughter of Apollo pulled her friend to her feet.

“Thanks,” Kara said. “My legs kind of feel like jelly right now.” She said shaking them out a little. Lena had asked Kara earlier if she wanted to trade places or something, but Kara refused, telling her friend it was fine.

“Don’t say I didn’t try to help you with that,” Lena said, rolling her eyes. Kara just shrugged.

“I like you sitting on my lap. It’s nice.” She said simply, walking in the direction of the small convenience store they had at the rest area. Lena blinked, before following her friend.

“So, what kind of food are you going to satisfy that appetite of your this time?” Lena teased. Kara just pouted but shrugged.

“Dunno.” She said. “Anything you’re particularly into?” Lena just shook her head.

“Not really. I’m really open for anything. There’s so many… new foods that I’ve been exposed to in the last few months.” She said with a shrug. “With the Luthors, we kind of only got the most high-end, high-quality foods and well… burgers and chips weren’t exactly amongst them.” Kara’s jaw dropped at the casual tone of voice Lena used.

“How did you live!?” She exclaimed. “When we get back to Demos, I’m going to introduce you to so many new foods,” Kara said excitedly. Lena just chuckled but nodded in agreement. Anything to spend more time with Kara. The two reached the small convenience booth and Kara picked out a couple of bags of chips for the two of them.

She offered one of the bags to Lena. “Barbecue potato chips. Absolute must try.” She said happily. Lena eyed the open bag but took one and munched on it slowly. It had a slightly tangy flavor but Lena found herself enjoying the taste. “Good?” Kara asked as the two headed back to where the car was parked.

“Yeah, they’re pretty good,” Lena said, accepting another chip from Kara. The blonde beamed. The two women reached the car, hopping back up on the trunk like they had the previous day. Alex and Maggie were walking hand in hand in the grass a small distance away. Mon-El had gone to the restroom and Winn was examining some of the landmarks.

“It’s a nice day today,” Kara commented, the sun high in the sky above them. Lena looked up, basking in the sunlight, nodding.

“I love the sun. Never knew why until…” She trailed off. Kara nodded.

“I always loved flying too. Even when I was small. I just loved the feeling of being in the sky. My parents owned a small plane that we would sometimes just fly over the countryside.” Kara said sadly. Lena bit her lip slightly, detecting the sad tone in Kara’s voice. She didn’t share much of her previous life before Demos. But Lena latched onto every bit and committed them all to memory. She was glad that Kara felt comfortable enough with her to be able to feel like she could share tidbits like that.

“I never liked flying much. Always scared me. I know it’s the fastest way to travel but…” She said with a shrug. Kara nodded.

“It’s not for everyone. James doesn’t really like flying either, to be honest. I think his dad died in a plane crash so… yeah. He hasn’t been too keen on it since then.” Kara said. Lena nodded.

“I didn’t know that.” She said sadly. Kara just nodded.

“Yeah, he doesn’t talk about it too much. Kind of like why I don’t talk about my own family. It… just hurts.” Lena nodded. She couldn’t understand exactly the same way they could. Her birth parents had died before she could really form any potent memories. She didn’t remember much besides a flicker here and there. Most of her memories were of the Luthors.

“I hope you know you can talk to me. About whatever. Or not. But I’m your friend and that’s what friends do, right? They listen.” Lena said, taking a risk and placing her hand on Kara’s thigh, rubbing it gently. Kara looked down at Lena’s hand, before looking up into her green eyes. She smiled sadly and nodded.

“Yeah. And we’re the best of friends.” Unbeknownst to each other, their stomachs clenched at the word _friends_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to have this chapter be action, but it ended up being fluff instead. I was also going to write and post this yesterday, but then I got distracted at the news that KATIE MCGRATH IS GOING TO BE A S3 REGULAR. We made it fam. 
> 
> Anyways, action will be next chapter. It should be interesting for those that really enjoy the Greek Mythology/PJO aspect of things. I just kind of got a little caught up in fluff after yesterday. Because I need more Katie McGrath in my life, ASAP. 
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	12. Chimera

I.

The group drove along for most of the day. Mon-El still leading the conversation with combat scenarios that the entire car had gotten in on at some point. Somewhere along the open road, however, the car began to make a concerning puttering sound. “Uh… Alex? Do you think you should pull over?” Kara asked her sister, a little concerned at the noises the car was making. 

“I’d really rather not. We’re only a half hour from the outskirts of the city.” Alex said, keeping her eyes on the road. “Stopping here, in the middle of nowhere, is probably not a good idea.” She reasoned. Lena nodded, agreeing with Alex. The sun was beginning to set and being stranded out in the countryside at night was probably not a good choice. 

But it seemed that the Fates weren’t on their side as not a few miles later, Alex’s car huffed out its last breath, shutting off and coming to a stop on the side of the road. Alex hit the steering wheel, turning the key in an attempt to start the car again, but it was no use. “Great,” Alex complained. “Mom and Dad are going to kill me.” She moaned. Kara just rolled her eyes.

“Stop being so dramatic. I’m sure they’ll be happy we come home in once piece. Never mind the car.” She said, assuring her sister it would be okay. Alex turned around. 

“Winn, do you think you can take a look? Maybe we can fix it. Or at least get it started so we can get to a repair shop in Lincoln.” She asked. Winn shrugged. 

“I can take a look. I’ve never tried to repair a car, but maybe I can learn on the fly.” He said brightly. If anyone could fix it, it would be a son of Hephaestus. Alex nodded, popping the trunk so Winn could grab his toolkit. Winn got out of the car, grabbing his bag. “Hey Alex, pop the hood, will you?” Alex nodded, pulling the lever to release the hood of the car. Winn unlatched it, propping it open to check out the insides. 

“I suppose now is a good a time as any to stretch our legs,” Alex said, getting out of the car. Lena turned slightly to look at Kara.

“Want to get out?” She asked her friend, who nodded in affirmation. Lena opened the door, sliding off of Kara’s lap, offering her hand to Kara and pulling her out of the car. Mon-El followed the pair out of the car. Lena and Kara walked over to the side of the road, watching the sun start to set. 

“Watching the sun rise and set together huh?” Kara teased. Lena just smiled. 

“Yeah. It’s nice, isn’t it?” She asked. Kara’s face changed from playful to serious, nodding in agreement. 

“Yeah, it is. I’m glad it’s you I get to experience it with.” She said softly. Lena nodded slowly, tearing her eyes away from Kara’s intense gaze. She looked back towards the setting sun, feeling Kara’s hand in hers. She chanced a glance over to the blonde, who was smiling though still looking straight ahead at the setting sun. 

The two stood in silence for a minute. “Hey, Lena! Will you come over here and check this out? Maybe you can see something I’m missing.” Winn called over, the peace between the two broken. Lena gave Kara a sympathetic look. But Kara just chuckled, nodding her head in Winn’s direction. Lena let go of Kara’s hand, heading over to Winn. Alex and Maggie passed Lena as she walked over to Winn, starting a conversation with Kara. 

Lena approached the car, heading over to the front where Winn stood, looking down at the innards of the vehicle. “I can’t for the life of me figure out what’s wrong.” He said a frown on his face. Lena nodded, deciding to take a look. She wasn’t the most proficient with cars, but she knew the basics. 

“Yeah, move over for a second.” He complied, stepping the side. Lena went to go inspect the car, putting her hands on the front, peering over the machinery. She must have been pouring over the inner working of the car for at least a few minutes. Her back turned and the gears in her brain spinning to find the problem, she completely missed the sound of Kara’s voice yelling at her. It wasn’t until a hand grabbed her arm and yanked her away from the car that she looked up. Her eyes widened at the sight. A monster approaching in the distance, spitting fire at the group. 

“Lena, we’ve gotta take cover!” Kara said in a panicked voice. Lena nodded frantically, following Kara’s lead. The two girls dove behind a nearby rock as a ball of fire rocketed overhead. Kara grabbed her pendant out of her pocket, pressing down on it, her broadsword growing from the small trinket. Kara looked over at a nearby rock outcropping, seeing Alex and Winn ducking for cover. Maggie and Mon-El running towards them. 

Mon-El took cover with Lena and Kara, Maggie with Alex and Winn. “My sword is in the trunk,” Lena said. The rest of the group had managed to get their weapons out of the car while she had been distracted by trying to fix it. Kara and Mon-El nodded. 

“We’ll give you a distraction,” Mon-El said with a mischievous and confidence grin. “Right Kara?” He elbowed his friend. Kara frowned but curtly nodded. 

“Yeah, we’ll draw its attention. You grab your sword from the car. Quickly.” She said, gripping her own sword as Mon-El strapped his shield on his arm, drawing his sword with the other. “C’mon you. Remember, footwork. Not charging in head first.” Mon-El just rolled his eyes. 

“Yes, mother.” He said as the two sprinted out from behind the rock, towards the Chimera. Alex and Maggie looked at one another before following suit. Winn looked to be messing with something on his toolbelt. Lena peeked out from behind the rock, seeing that Kara had drawn the attention of the Chimera. So Lena made a break for the car, which was a few yards away. 

The Chimera, unfortunately, seemed to decide it wanted to take out the unarmed member of their party before tackling the others, so it abruptly changed directions and sprinted towards Lena, a roar issuing from the lion’s mouth. It leapt through the air, cutting Lena off from the rest of the group, cornering her against the car. A jolt of fear ran through Lena’s spine at the sight in front of her. She pressed her back against the metal of the car, sweat dripping down her forehead. A look of pure fear in her eyes

“Lena!” Kara screamed, sprinting towards her friend. Lena’s eyes flicked towards Kara before she looked back up at the Chimera. It had what was probably akin to smile on its face, the snake headed tail rearing up, preparing to strike. Time seemed to slow down for her again as the snake-headed tail lunged for her. Lena felt a tingling sensation on her wrist. She glanced down at it to see the sun mark on her right wrist flash golden before the sword that had been left on her dorm wall magically appeared in her hand in a sparkling of light. 

Lena blinked for a second. Not having time to process where the sword came from, she raised it in front of her, deflecting the snake’s attack, then diving out of the way as Kara reached her. Lena had landed on the ground, on her side to avoid another attack. Kara stood in front of Lena, her sword raised to defend her friend. The Chimera narrowed its eyes, looking at the two girls. Lena quickly got to her feet, standing next to Kara, her sword outstretched in front of her. Kara glanced at the weapon. 

“Where did you get that?” She asked. 

“Is now really the time to be asking me that?” Lena exclaimed, a little snippy. Kara blinked before turning her attention back to the Chimera. It seemed to have made up its mind and opened it’s mouth to breathe flames at the two women again. Without thinking, Kara used her powers of air manipulation to jump out of the path of the flames. Though on reflex and she forgot that she had left Lena completely exposed. She was about to scream out for Lena to dodge the attack then the freshmen raised her free hand, a shield of light pouring from it, deflecting the flames. 

Lena looked quite surprised that she was able to call on her powers, but she wasn’t going to complain. Finally, the rest of the group were able to shake off their own shock and charged towards Kara and Lena. Alex and Maggie, who had been training and fighting together for a few years split off from the group, running for the tail, Alex had attached a spearhead to the staff she carried, Maggie’s dual daggers drawn. 

Kara landed down next to Lena as the Chimera recovered from the shock of Lena’s powers, rare as they were. It gave Mon-El and Winn enough time to reach their friends. Winn had a small round shield attached to his arm with spikes protruding from the edges, a small hammer in his other hand. Kara noticed Lena was breathing heavily, looking a little worse for wear. She pushed her friend behind her. “Stay behind me. I’ve got you.” She said to Lena reassuringly and a little protectively. The woman nodded as Mon-El, Winn, and Kara charged towards the Chimera. 

The Chimera was fighting on both fronts; Alex and Maggie circling around the tail, looking for an opening to strike. Winn, Kara, and Mon-El approaching the lion’s head, the lion spitting fire at them. Mon-El and Winn blocked the incoming blasts with their shields as Kara approached behind them. Lena, still recovering from the shock of what had just happened, stood back a little further from the group, gathering her strength. 

Mon-El made the first move towards the head, lunging forward with his sword. The Chimera just batted the strike away, clawing at the halfblood. Mon-El jumped back to avoid the sharp claws, raising his shield just in case, retreating back slightly. The three halfbloods tried to find an opening with no avail. And Alex and Maggie were having no such luck with the tail either. The intelligent creature kept its defenses tight. Lena frowned. Her friends were never going to be able to land a hit at this rate. She looked at her right wrist, where her mark lay hidden. She swallowed hard, straightening her back, putting on her cold Luthor expression, and approaching her friends. She pushed past Winn and Mon-El, to their protest and approached the monster. 

It narrowed its eyes at her, clearly understanding of her power. “Kara, get ready,” Lena yelled. Kara frowned, but gripped her sword tighter, approaching Lena and the Chimera slowly, as to not evoke a sudden movement. Lena, her sword still gripped in her right hand, looked at her left palm, before calling deep down inside herself. A warm, familiar heat pooled in her stomach as she watched her hand glow. She thrust it towards the Chimera, willing her power to burst forth from the glow. 

All of the sudden, there was a blinding flash of light. The halfbloods looked away out of reflex, but the Chimera wasn’t so lucky. It roared, rearing back, disoriented from the flash. Alex and Maggie took their opened, charging in towards the tail. It tried to strike at Maggie, who rolled to the side to avoid the attack. The strike left it vulnerable, so Maggie thrust one of her daggers in a downward cutting motion, cutting the head from the Chimera’s tail. The Chimera roared again in pain. 

Kara knew this was her chance. She tightened her grip on her broadsword, using her powers to jump up and propel her towards the Chimera. She managed to land on top of its bloodsoaked mane. The Chimera roared in anger, trying to paw at Kara and knock her from its head, rearing back to buck her off. Kara grabbed hold of the mane, steadying herself. She gripped her broadsword with one hand, like only she could with her strength and thrust it down into the lion’s head. 

Blood spurted from the wound, the Chimera roaring in even more pain as it stopped bucking and clawing at Kara, falling to the ground, slumping into the sand. Kara hopped off the Chimera as the monster that lie dead on the ground behind to dissolve into dust until there was nothing left. The six halfbloods sighed in relief, staring at the place where the monster had been. They gathered back together. Lena was sat in the sand, her breaths heavy, her strength depleted from using her powers. 

“That was awesome!” Mon-E said excitedly. The entire group gave him a sharp look before he just rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I mean… It was. C’mon. I’ve never seen Lena use her powers like that before. It was so cool.” He perked up, looking down at his friend on the ground. Kara frowned, crouching down to examine Lena. She placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” She asked, concerned. Lena just nodded, not trusting her voice. Kara looked down to the sword in her hand. “And again, where did you get this?” She asked, looking at the golden sword in Lena’s hand. “It doesn’t look like celestial bronze.”

Lena shrugged. “It was left in my room before we left Demos.” She said. Not exactly a lie. But not entirely the whole truth either. 

“That sounds awfully suspicious Lena. You sure you don’t know where it came from?” Alex asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. Lena looked defiantly up at the senior.

“I have no idea where it came from.” She snapped. “But it saved my life, so I’m not complaining.” She said defensively. Maggie gave Alex a critical look and the senior sighed. 

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” She relented, Maggie, grabbing her girlfriend’s hand. Winn looked over at the car, which was now a smoking piece of metal. 

“I guess the next order of business is to find some way to travel now. Since it looks like the Chimera really did a number on your car Alex.” The senior groaned. 

“Great. Well, what do you propose?” She asked the group at large. 

“Lena could pray to her dad. Maybe he’d help us.” Mon-El suggested. The group looked at Lena.

“He did answer your prayer once before,” Maggie said. “Maybe he would again. This is an important quest.” She said. Lena struggled to stand, Kara, grabbing Lena’s hand and pulling her to her feet. 

“Thanks, Kara,” Lena said. The blonde just smiled and nodded. “I don’t know. Maybe. I guess it can’t hurt to try.” She said. The sun was beginning to dip over the horizon. It was a little bit of a stretch that Apollo would come to their aid. But they didn’t have any other options at the moment. She left the group, walking a little ways towards the horizon. When she was out of earshot of her friends, she spoke aloud. 

“Father. I need your help. We need your help.” She prayed. She felt her wrist tingle again. She looked down and saw her sword disappear in a flash of light again, much like the first time. She frowned but thought nothing of it. She had other things to worry about. She looked to the orange sky. “Please. I need you.” She said. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun Dun Dun. Lena's first big fight. But I guarantee you, it's not her last. Not by a long shot. 
> 
> Those of you not familiar with Greek Mythos, the Chimera is a monster with the head of a lion, body of a goat, tail of a snake. At least, in PJO. It's slightly different in the actual Mythos, but since this is a PJO inspired story, we're going with the PJO form of the monsters. Because in actual mythology it also has the head of a goat too. In addition to the head of a lion. Just a little Greek Mythology tid bit for those of you interested. 
> 
> So yup. Lena played with her powers a little bit. And that sword made another appearance. I'm not the best at writing action sequences and fight scenes really, so you'll have to forgive me. I'm much better at fluff. And emotions. And stuff like that. Action is fun, don't get me wrong, but I'm not the greatest at writing it. I also wrote this at midnight after I had to write a 6 page essay. So forgive me for any grammatical or spelling errors. I'll probably go back and fix it at a later date. This is also why the chapter is a bit on the short side too. 
> 
> So, will Apollo answer Lena's prayer? We'll find out. 
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	13. Apollo

I.

Lena looked to the horizon and saw a slight glint in the distance. She squinted, looking towards the setting sun. As the sun dipped below the horizon and the moon took over the sky, Lena heard a rumbling coming towards them. She looked at the road and saw a car approaching them, the headlights bright in the distance. Lena frowned, it wasn’t abnormal for cars to be driving this late, but on a stretch of freeway in the middle of nowhere, it wasn’t common either.

As the car got closer, Lena saw it slowing down. She blinked before walking back over to the group, where they were all watching the car come to a stop next to their smoking piece of metal. Lena prayed that the Mist would obscure the car so to a human’s eyes it was fine and maybe had a flat tire or something.

A nice looking sports car pulled up next to them. Lena raised an eyebrow at the man who stepped out of the car. “Apollo.” She said, bowing her head slightly, recognizing her father from the last time they had met. The god smiled at his daughter.

“Lena. You called?” He said with a mischievous smile. Lena nodded, glancing at her friends who all seemed to be a little in awe of the sun god. Alex, Winn, and Maggie were all trying to keep their jaws from falling to the floor, while Mon-El and Kara kept their composure a bit better.

“Lord Apollo.” Alex bowed her head in respect. The others following suit. The sun god just laughed, waving them off.

“You don’t need to “Lord Apollo” me, Alex Danvers. Your mom might want respect like that from her children and their friends, but don’t mind me. You’re all my nieces and nephews anyway.” He chuckled. Alex looked a little… almost offended at Apollo’s nonchalant attitude about the entire thing, but knew better than to open her mouth of protest.

“You’re Lena’s dad,” Kara said nervously. Apollo turned his attention to the young daughter of Zeus, seemingly appraising her, looking her once over. Lena could see some scrutiny in his eyes, though she didn’t know what for. He gazed at her, his deep blue eyes trained on Kara. Lena unconsciously moved closer to Kara, a little protectively, grabbing the blonde’s hand in hers. Kara wrapped their fingers together, holding on to Lena’s hand a little bit tighter than she normally would. Lena could tell Kara was nervous under Apollo’s gaze.

But after a minute or two, he turned to the rest of the group, glancing over them, not lingering on any of them the way he had Kara, before turning back to Lena. “What did you need, kiddo?” Lena glanced over at their car.

“I was hoping maybe you had the time to get us to San Francisco. Or at least help us get to Lincoln, I could probably cover it from there.” She said, thinking if he could get them to the city, she could probably just buy a car there. Apollo leaned back against his car, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

“You know, your,” He gestured in Kara’s direction, “dear old dad doesn’t want any of us interfering in this quest. He said it’s too dangerous for us to get involved, lest we risk breaking the treaty.” He informed the group. Lena felt her shoulders sag. That was what she was afraid of.

“But you wouldn’t have answered Lena’s prayer if you weren’t at least considering helping us.” Mon-El piped up. Apollo chuckled, nodding slightly in the son of Ares’ direction.

“Quite right Mon-El. Of course, you are right.” He pushed himself up, walking up to Lena, whose hand was still gripping onto Kara’s hand. He placed his right hand on her shoulder. “You know. Don’t tell your siblings, but you’re my favorite.” He said with a wink. Lena felt a slight tug in her heart. She had honestly never had a parental figure, even one as mysterious as Apollo tell her that she was their favorite. Lillian held a great deal of disdain for Lena. And while she was obviously Lionel’s favorite, he never really told her as such. It was more of an implied relationship. She felt a slight feeling of pride swell in her chest.

“So, what are you planning on doing, exactly?” Maggie piped up. Alex elbowed her girlfriend for being so casual in the presence of a god, even one as laid back as Apollo.

“I can get you as far as Las Vegas. Any further and well…” He trailed off. “You know, the Titans would figure out I’m helping you. As it is, your old man is probably going to be pissed off at me when I get back to Olympus.” Apollo said with a shrug. “Nothing I can’t handle of course. Small price to pray for my favorite kid.” He said, ruffling Lena’s hair. Lena cringed, letting go of Kara’s hand to fix her hair, pouting at her father.

“So… how exactly are we all going to fit?” Winn said, eyeing the sports car. It had even fewer seats than Alex’s and they were pretty cramped as it was. Apollo almost rolled his eyes, pulling a set of keys out of his pocket. He clicked a button on the remote dangling from his keychain and the car magically transformed to an SUV that would easily hold the six halfbloods plus Apollo.

“Any more stupid questions kid?” He teased. Winn shrunk down in size a little bit, nodding his head. “C’mon, get in.” He said, gesturing to the car, getting into the driver’s seat himself. Lena, Kara, and Mon-El climbed into the back, while Maggie, Alex, and Winn sat in the middle three seats.

“Buckle up, it’ll get a little… fast” Apollo said as the group fastened their seat belts. Apollo ignited the engine, the car roaring to life. In a flash, the car took to the skies. Lena sank down in her seat a little bit, her fear of flying coming into play. Luckily, she was sitting in between Kara and Mon-El, so she wasn’t next to a window. She just jammed her eyes shut, praying that it would be over soon. She felt a hand grab hers and a thumb stroke the back of her hand, trying to soothe her. Lena cracked her eyes open and glanced over at Kara, who had taken her hand and pulled it into her lap as the blonde looked out the window.

Lena smiled a bit at Kara, though Kara didn’t notice as she wasn’t looking at her friend. Lena observed Kara’s face, She was wistfully looking out at the sky and down at the passing landscape below them. They were flying faster than any plane could travel, though Apollo was keeping the speed to a tolerable level for humans. “Do you miss is? Flying.” Lena asked Kara. The blonde, who was still absentmindedly playing with Lena’s hand, turned to look at her friend.

“Hmm? Flying? I mean, I wish I had the chance to do it more often. Being a daughter of Zeus, you know. We belong in the sky.” Kara said with a sad smile. Lena nodded. “You’re still scared I take it?” She inquired. And Lena nodded.

“Yeah,” Lena admitted. “I feel like I shouldn’t be. But… I’ve never been able to get over my fear of flying. No matter how many plane trips I’ve taken in my life and there have been plenty.” Lena said with a shrug. Kara nodded.

“Maybe I can take you flying one day. Work on facing your fears?” Kara asked. Lena hesitated but slowly nodded.

“Okay.” She said. Kara grinned.

“Promise?” She said, letting go of Lena’s hand and extending her pinkie. Lena laughed, but nodded, wrapping her pinkie with Kara’s, the two shaking on it.

“Yeah, I promise.”

In the driver’s seat, with his eyes on the sky, Apollo smiled to himself at the two girls sitting in the back seat.

II.

Apollo made it to Vegas in good time, only one hour instead of the standard four. He touched down right outside a bus station on the outskirts of the big city. When the car touched down onto the asphalt, the six halfbloods got out of the car. Lena walked up to her father, a small smile on her face. “Keep that one close. She’s special.” He said, pointing to Kara. Lena blushed slightly but nodded.

“I plan to.” She said, biting her lip, looking at Kara who was chatting happily with Alex and Mon-El. “Thank you.” She said, bowing her head. Apollo chuckled, patting her on the arm.

“Don’t be thanking me yet... Just be safe. We wouldn’t want you falling into the Titan’s hands, now would we?” He said with a knowing smirk. Lena frowned but nodded. Apollo bowed his head slightly to the young halfblood before he and his car glittered and faded away. Lena walked back over to the group.

“You’re dad is so cool, Lena.” Winn gushed. “He’s super chill.” Lena shrugged, nodding.

“I suppose he is.” She said, not really sure what else to say. Thankfully, Alex stepped in.

“So, we’re here in Vegas a few days ahead of schedule. What do you say we grab a hotel for a couple days and regroup? Now that we’re so close to Mount Othrys, we should probably come up with a better game plan.” The group all agreed on that plan and made to the bus station to see where they might be heading next.

III.

As it turned out, the group grabbed a bus into the heart of the city and Lena managed to grab three rooms at one of the five-star hotels on the Vegas strip. Luckily for her, and the employees of the hotel, they didn’t hassle her over the request. And once she presented them with her black LuthorCorp card, they were all glad that they hadn’t given her a hard time. The group split up in the same way they did before, Lena with Kara, Maggie with Alex and Mon-El with Winn. Lena had gotten them all rooms closer to the top of the highrise hotel, affording them all a good view of the city. The group decided to call it night and start their planning in the morning.

Kara was sitting in one of the chairs next to the window next to a box of pizza that she and Lena had ordered, munching happily on a slice. Lena was opposite her, eating her own slide, albeit slower with Kara. The blonde was certainly a vacuum when it came to food. “You performed well today,” Kara commented after she swallowed her bite.

“Hmm? Oh. The fight. Thanks, I guess. I didn’t really do much. Just throw my powers around a little bit. You guys did most of the actual fighting.” Lena said with a shrug.

“But you defended yourself nicely, though!” Kara insisted. “Not everyone could deflect a blow from a Chimera,” Kara said, taking another bite. Lena just waved her off.

“Seriously Kara. It’s not _that_ impressive.” Kara just shook her head but didn’t argue.

“You seem to be getting a better grasp on your powers, though,” Kara commented. Noting that Lena had been able to actually get her powers to work on command during their fight. She nodded.

“I… yeah. The first time, with the light shield, that was all instinct. But the second time, it was like… a heat bubbling up in the pit of my stomach. I just had to pull at it and harness its power.” Lena said, trying to describe the sensation to Kara. The blonde, for her part, nodded in understanding.

“It’s similar with my air powers. Hard to explain, but for me, it’s this… light and floaty feeling. Sort of like the air cushions surrounding me.” Kara said. Lena nodded, not fully understanding, but being able to follow her friend.

“It’s just so… weird.” Lena started. “I’m the only child of Apollo in history to have these powers. Why me?” Lena lamented. She had been wondering that ever since she had been claimed. Why was she different? Apollo had told her he hadn’t known why she had these powers, except that the Fates had decreed that she did. But for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out for what reason.

“You’re special. That’s why. Everyone has something that makes them special Lena. These powers make you unique. One of a kind. I’m sure you’re meant for something great in the future. This is probably only the beginning. And you know, I’ll be there with you, right?” Kara asked, looking over at Lena. Green eyes met blue, locking gazes for a few seconds before Lena nodded.

“Yeah. I know.”

IV.

The rest of the evening was fairly quiet. Lena went to take a shower first, Kara following after her. Lena grabbed a book from the shelf in their room and sat down in the chair she had been previously occupying. Again, it wasn’t anything particularly compelling, but it did pass the time. Kara eventually finished her own shower and convinced Lena to people watch from their window with her. “Oh look! It’s a couple kissing down there.” Kara said, pointing down at the street. Lena looked to where Kara was pointing, and indeed there was a young couple lip locked down below them.

The two made off hand comments about some of the people they watched. Even making up stories about why they were in Las Vegas and where they came from. There was a family exploring the strip and Kara said that they were there for some sort of vacation from their home life in Kentucky. And that the kids would have rather just stayed home, but their parents had dragged them along. Lena chuckled at Kara’s stories, but humored her and played along.

There was another man in a nice suit that walked the strip. And Lena said that he was some sort of businessman who was in Vegas on business, but he was taking the night out for some fun on the town. Maybe to get a little drunk. And after all, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

The two continued that for an hour or so before Kara began to yawn. “You ready for bed Kara?” Lena asked and Kara nodded sleepily. Lena nodded, padding over to the overhead light switch turning it off, the light from the bedside lamp now the only light in the room. Kara got in on the right side of the bed, Lena on the left. This time as Lena sunk down into the bed, getting comfortable, Kara snuggled up next to Lena.

The young halfblood stiffened a bit, but Kara draped an arm around Lena’s waist, laying her head on Lena’s shoulder and Lena relaxed. “I figured I would save you the trouble of migrating over to my side of the bed tonight.” Kara teased. Lena blushed slightly but nodded. She wrapped an arm around Kara’s shoulder, resting her head on top of Kara’s.

“Good night Lena,” Kara whispered before quickly falling asleep against her shoulder. Lena felt Kara’s breathing slow down, signaling Kara drifting off to sleep. Lena sighed.

“Good night Kara.” She said before closing her own eyes and allowing herself to fall asleep and unwind from the stressful day she had just had.

V.

Kronos sat at the stone table once again with his four brothers; Krios to his right, Hyperion to his left, Iapetus and Koios sitting across from him. “Apollo has sped them along on their journey,” Krios said angrily. “This is a direct interference Kronos. The treaty is technically broken. We should attack Olympus now!” He insisted. But Iapetus intervened.

“Patience brother. We are not yet strong enough to take on Zeus and the Olympians. We need _her_.” He said calmly. Krios just groaned.

“I still don’t know why you have such a fascination with this girl. She is nothing!” He hissed.

“Hold your tongue Krios. You have no idea what you are saying.” Hyperion angrily responded. Kronos held his hand up to silence his fighting brothers.

“Both of you, quiet.” Krios and Hyperion both sat back in their chairs. “I agree with Iapetus. We wait for them to come to us. Hyperion, you know what you must do. I am relying on you to follow through.” He said dangerously to the Lord of the East. Hyperion bowed his head to his brother.

“I assure you, it will be done by the time the halfbloods arrive here.” Kronos nodded his head approvingly.

“See that it is. Because I will be _very_ disappointed if you are wrong.” He threatened. Hyperion narrowed his eyes.

“I will not be wrong. She will join us. One way, Or another.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is sort of filler but also not really. But yeah, Apollo answered Lena's prayers. Of course. And got them to Vegas. And well... A little bit more on the mysterious Titans. ;)
> 
> They'll be staying here for the next couple of days to come up with a game plan. But you know, the longer they stay in one place, the easier it is to find them. 
> 
> This actually took me a while to come up with since plot-wise it's important, yet also not super important. Next couple chapters should be a bit more interesting. Also, I didn't really proof read this either, so sorry for any grammatical/spelling mistakes. I'll fix it later.
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	14. Hyperion

I.

Lena found herself in the wasteland of stone once again. It seemed as though even Kara Danvers couldn’t keep her dreams at bay. This time, she knew what was going to happen, so she found a flat stone and sat down, waiting. Before long there was a bright flash of light, so bright that Lena had to look away. When it faded the same muscular, brown haired man with the fiery eyes was standing front of her. She looked up at him defiantly. “What do you want this time?” She hissed. “Why do you keep invading my dreams?” The man chuckled, something sinister bubbling right beneath the surface. 

“As I said, answers you’re not ready for. Though I will say I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out yet. Ah, no matter. You will soon enough.” He said, his eyes flashing gold and the mark on Lena’s wrist lighting up. 

“Figured out what?” Lena asked, frowning and rubbing the glowing mark. But the man just shook his head. 

“All in good time. Just know that the Oracle and your  _ father _ are not the only ones who can divine prophecy.” He said, spitting out the word  _ father  _ like it was poison. “But that is not why I am here. We know about your little quest. Your pitiful attempt to stop us. The Chimera was only our first test. A warm-up if you will.” He taunted. “Our plans are coming to a close. You’d better prepare yourself.” He said, the flames in his eyes growing brighter. 

Lena’s eyes widened a little bit.” You… you’re a Titan.” She said, a little fearfully, inching back away from him on the rock. He just chuckled. He just mockingly bowed to her. 

“Lord Hyperion, Titan of Light, Fire, and Power. Titan Lord of the East, at your service, my lady.” He smirked at the fear in Lena’s eyes and in her heart. 

“Why are you telling me this? To what end? You could probably just kill me now if you wanted. Why toy with me? And with us?” Lena said, thinking back to her friends. And to Kara who was currently snuggled up against her side. Hyperion laughed. 

“I could strike you down where you sit right now, Lena Luthor. But if that was my intent, you would have never left Demos alive. No, you have a much more important role to play than just being a death message to the gods. You’re meant for greater things than that.” He said, adjusting the golden wrist guard that was clasped around his right wrist. 

“Like what?” She retorted. If he was going to play cryptic games with her, she was going to try to make the most of it. 

“Have you ever wondered why the Gods sent you? A newbie halfblood on this quest? Zeus knew he was sending you to your death. He never expects you to make it back alive. Apollo himself sped up the process. Probably was feeling merciful I suppose. If his favorite  _ daughter _ has to die, might as well make it sooner rather than later.” He said nonchalantly. Lena narrowed her eyes. 

“Why should I believe you? You’re a Titan, I’m the child of a god. You’re practically made to hate me.” She questioned, a bit of her own fire in her eyes, her hands starting to glow a pale yellow as she stood from her rock. Hyperion looks amused, raising his hands in defeat, stepping back from Lena a little bit. 

“The world it not as black and white as that Lena. Have you ever wondered about the fates of all the heroes that came before you? Hercules, Odysseus, Theseus. Almost all the great heroes, subject to tragic endings at the behest of the gods. Even cursed by the gods themselves. Because they were a threat. They fear what is more powerful than them. They will do anything to keep you on a leash. And if you don’t comply, they will find a way to eliminate you. You’re nothing more than a pawn in a long game Lena. I have no reason to lie to you about that.” Hyperion reasoned. Their eyes met and Lena found herself captivated by the flames flickering behind his eyes. 

“I… No. No way. My father cares about me. You’re just trying to make me doubt myself.” Lena insisted but Hyperion just chuckled. 

“I have no doubt your father cares for you, Lena Luthor.” He said, a slight shimmer in his eyes. “But the gods are using you. They’re afraid of your power. And they will eventually get rid of you. Even if you survive this quest, if you become too powerful for them to control, they will eliminate you before you have the chance to overthrow them.” 

“I would never do that!” Lena exclaimed. 

“But the gods are paranoid young things. Regardless of whether you will or will not, you have the capabilities to do so. You have the potential to be even greater than Zeus himself. They cannot forcibly remove your powers without your consent. Even they are not that strong.” Hyperion said thoughtfully. “But know this. Our plans are coming to a head. Hurry little halfblood, your time is running out.” He said before disappearing in a flash of light. Lena shielded her eyes before jolting awake.

II.

Lena sat up suddenly in the bed, jarring Kara from her sleep. The sun was just peeking over the horizon as Kara groggily woke up. “Lena? What’s wrong?” She asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, a concerned look on her face. Lena closed her eyes, breathing slowly. 

“Nothing. Just a bad dream. Go back to sleep.” Lena said, getting out of bed. Kara sat up a little further. 

“Where are you going?” Kara asked. 

“I need some air. Alone.” Lena said. “Please, Kara. Just go back to sleep.” She begged, wanting to be alone to think. Lena could tell Kara really wanted to get out of bed and follow her, but instead, she nodded sadly, laying back down. 

“I’m here if you want to talk later.” Lena heard Kara say as Lena grabbed a jacket and put on a pair of shoes, exiting their room, shutting the door quietly behind her. She headed the elevator and went down the lobby and walked out front, the Vegas strip laid out in front of her. She found an unoccupied bench out front and took a seat. Lena sat back thinking about her dream. 

Hyperion. She had her fears when he first started appearing to her about who he was. Or at least, what he was. But she didn’t think they could have been true. And his words. They almost sounded genuine. But Lena knew better. The Titans were evil. They were snakes. They didn’t care about anything but their own power. Whatever Hyperion was doing wasn’t for her benefit. It was for his. Lena shook her head and sighed. 

There was something about Hyperion that was strange. He was right, he could have killed long ago. But he chose not to. If she was as powerful as he said she was, what was the point of keeping her around? She was too strong willed to bend to his. She would  _ never _ join the Titans willingly. She would side with the gods. So why had Hyperion left her alive? And in fact, why did all the Titans allow her to live? Certainly Hyperion wasn’t the only one that could kill her. Any one of them could. Everything was so confusing. And made little sense. 

She was new to the halfblood world, but she was far from new to the world of manipulation. She could spot it a mile off. But what she couldn’t figure out was what did the Titans have to gain? She owed no allegiance or debt to them. No reason to doubt the gods. But Hyperion’s words had rung loud and clear. They wanted her to betray the gods. But to what end?

III.

Lena sat outside, alone, for a good half an hour, clearing her mind of her disturbing night. She decided to, again, keep the details to herself. The prophecy seemed to be indicating that she was the one with the attention of a Titan. She was unsure of what that meant for everyone else, but she would protect her friends from it as long as possible. They meant everything to her. 

“Lena.” The young Luthor, startled a little bit, looked up to see Kara standing a small distance away, hesitantly looking at her. Asking for permission to sit with her. Lena just sighed, but nodded, patting the bench next to her. Kara looked relieved and went to sit next to her friend. “Are you okay?” Kara asked, wrapping an arm around her friend’s shoulder, pulling her into her side. Lena snuggled up against Kara’s side, nodding. 

“I’m okay. I’m fine.” Lena lied. She was far from fine and okay. But she was a Luthor. She was used to hiding her feelings. 

“Don’t push me away Lena. Please. I’m your friend.” Kara said, swallowing hard. “I want to help you.” Kara pled, laying her cheek on top of Lena’s head. 

“Please don’t ask me to tell you, Kara,” Lena said, her voice quivering a little bit. She wanted to keep Kara as far away from her problems as possible. Out of everyone in her life, Kara meant the most of her, even just as a friend, even though her feelings were getting stronger for Kara each day. She didn’t want to put Kara in the crosshairs of a Titan, especially not one as powerful as Hyperion, for he was only second to Atlas and Kronos himself in strength. They might not kill  _ her _ , but they said nothing about the daughter of Zeus. 

“Why? What are you so afraid of that we can’t figure it out together?” Kara pushed. She normally wouldn’t force Lena to talk to her, but she could sense Lena’s feelings as she left their room. She was completely distraught. But Lena shook her head. 

“I’m afraid of losing you,” Lena said softly. Kara’s heart shattered a little bit at the vulnerability and small tone of voice that Lena said, her voice cracking. Kara lifted her cheek off of Lena’s head, turning slightly to face Lena and wrapping both her arms tightly around her friend. Lena accepted the hug, burying her face into Kara’s shoulder. 

“You’re not going to lose me, Lena. I can take care of myself. Besides, I need to take you flying. I pinkie promised.” Kara whispered, comforting her friend. 

“I just want to protect you. So please, don’t ask me to tell you.” Lena begged. And Kara sighed. She wanted to reassure Lena that she didn’t need protection, but she reluctantly relented. 

“Okay. But I’m here for you if you ever want to talk.” Kara repeated. Lena nodded weakly into Kara’s shoulder.   

“I know you are. And maybe in the future, I’ll tell you. But right now… I just can’t.” Lena said quietly. Kara nodded in understanding, her arms tightening around Lena’s body, the two girls sat in silence for a while. 

IV.

Eventually, the two went back to their room to get ready for the day. Alex said that they should start planning immediately, but Maggie and Mon-El convinced her to wait a day since they were ahead of schedule to sightsee and hang around the Vegas strip. Alex had sulked a little bit but Maggie promised to make it up to her, which cheering Alex up significantly. 

Kara and Lena didn’t talk further about Lena’s dreams, which Lena was extremely grateful for. She knew Kara could be stubborn at the best of times, but the blonde respected her wishes. Kara, on the other hand, really wanted Lena to confide in her, but figured the best way to do so would be for Lena to do so at her own pace. Pushing Lena too far would cause her to pull back. Kara had figured out that much in their few months old friendship. 

Lena grabbed a clear t-shirt and a pair of shorts and headed into the bathroom to brush her teeth and get dressed. Kara also changed into a pair of jeans and tank top, pulling her hair up into a ponytail for the date. She and Lena hadn’t discussed what they were going to do that day, but Kara knew she wanted to spend it with Lena. 

Kara, unbeknownst to who was probably also her best friend, had developed serious feelings for Lena. More and more certain that Lena was the one that Aphrodite had prophesied only made Kara care about Lena more. And worry too. After all, Lena was destined to exist on neither one side nor the other. Kara wasn’t sure what that meant and hated the unknown. But what she did know was that it was becoming harder and harder to not just kiss Lena silly whenever they were in close proximity to each other. But Kara didn’t want to ruin whatever friendship they had. After all, Aphrodite never said anything about Lena returning Kara’s feelings, though Kara was half sure that the goddess of love wouldn’t have been so cruel as to prophesy unrequited love like that. 

But maybe it was too soon. After all, they had only known each other for a few months. There was still so much that Kara wanted to learn about Lena. And things that Kara wanted to tell Lena. Kara had chickened out and asked James to tell Lena about her childhood to avoid the memories that came with it. But maybe it was time that Lena heard the recollection from Kara’s own mouth. After all, Lena shared her own childhood, difficult as it was, with Kara. Didn’t Lena deserve the same from her? 

Kara heard the bathroom door open and Lena stepped out in her shorts and t-shirt, gesturing to the open door. “Bathroom is all yours. Alex said she wanted everyone to stop by her room before we head out onto the strip, so don’t take too long.” Lena said. Kara nodded. 

“I won’t. I just need to brush my teeth and I’ll be right out. If you want to go without me, you don’t need to wait.” But Lena shook her head. 

“I’ll wait for you. Don’t worry.” Lena said with a small smile. Kara nodded before heading into the bathroom.

V.

Everyone was gathered in Alex and Maggie’s room, the couple sitting on the bed, Mon-El and Lena on the couch with Winn and Kara sitting in a couple of chairs. “Okay, since  _ someone _ insisted that we take the day off…” Alex said, rolling her eyes. Maggie just poked her girlfriend’s side. Alex flinched a little bit. 

“Hey, we all need to relax. After that Chimera attack yesterday, I think we all deserve it.” Maggie said, Mon-El and Winn nodding their heads in agreement. Lena, for what her opinion was worth, was more with Alex. Her dream that night had shaken her to the core. If the Titans did know about the quest, they should be hurrying along and getting it over with as soon as possible. But Lena also knew that they need to keep up morale among the group. And she knew it would look a little weird for her to insist that they push ahead. Not without explaining her dreams. And that was something she did not want to do. 

“Anyway, I guess we’re all just on our own. Though I would strong recommend that we stay at least in groups of two. You never know when you’ll come across a monster. That Chimera was looking for us. There is no way that it was a coincidence.” Alex said gravely. Everyone nodded, all in agreement that the Chimera was a targeted attack. 

“I call dibs on Lena,” Maggie said to everyone’s surprise. Alex looked at her girlfriend with a look of surprise as well. Maggie just shrugged. 

“You guys have been monopolizing her time too much on this trip. I need time with me best friend!” Maggie insisted. “Alex, why don’t you have a sister day with Kara. You haven’t done that in a while either.” Maggie suggested. Alex shrugged, looking over at Kara who grinned happily. 

“Kar? You up for that?” Alex asked her younger sister who bounced a little bit in her chair, a wide smile on her face.  

“Yeah!” She said excitedly. Even though she loved her time with Lena, she also had been missing her sister a little bit. 

“I guess that leaves you and me,” Mon-El said to Winn. The son of Hephaestus nodded. 

“Yep. Want to hit the pool?” Winn suggested. The son of Ares perked up at that suggestion, nodding, the two men bragging about how many laps they could swim around each other. 

Maggie walked over to Lena. “So best friend, I’m sure you’ve been the Vegas before. Want to show a newbie the ropes?” She said with a mischievous smile. Lena looked up at Maggie before laughing, but nodding and getting up from the couch. 

“Trust me, you’ve never experienced Vegas like a Luthor before.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not entirely sure what to comment on here. We're getting closer to the climax of this specific part of the story. I will just say that Lena's dream is important. If you hadn't already figured that out. For those of you super over-analyzing sleuths out that, that's the most important part of the chapter in figuring out the direction I'm going. ;) 
> 
> Other than that, I still want to build up friendships, rather that just the Kara/Lena relationship. Because friendships will be just as important as the Kara/Lena dynamic in later parts, specifically the next one. Think of this part as a "get to know you" section. Everyone is still getting to know Lena. And although they all readily have accepted her as one of their own, keep in mind, she is still the newest to the group, and, bar Kara, is still subject to the most scrutiny by the rest. 
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	15. Vegas

I.

“So, Little Danvers, huh?” Maggie said. The two friends had decided to go check out one of the shopping centers on the strip, just wandering around for the moment. They had decided to all meet up at one of the local Chinese restaurants later so Kara could get her potsticker fix. Lena raised an eyebrow. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Lena deflected, but Maggie gave her a critical look. 

“Don’t even think you can hide it Little Luthor. A seasoned gay like myself can spot a crush like yours a mile away.” Maggie teased. Lena just sighed. 

“Is it that obvious?” Lena asked, a little wary of the answer. Kara never let on that she knew anything about her feelings. They just did normal friend stuff, right? 

“Girl, you’re about as obvious about your feelings for Kara as I am for her sister,” Maggie said, bumping her shoulder against Lena lightly. The younger halfblood groaned. 

“Great.” She moaned. But Maggie just shrugged. 

“Hey, Kara is a great girl. She seems to like you too, you know?” Maggie commented. She had noticed that Kara treated Lena differently than everyone else. She willing shared food with Lena. She had always been affectionate with the group, but she always seemed to go out of her way to be close to Lena. But Lena just frowned. 

“Really?” She asked curiously. Frankly, Lena hadn’t had very many friends growing up. And those that she had considered friends she had still kept at arm’s length. She could never trust people’s intentions with the family she came from. Maggie just laughed.

“Have you ever seen that girl willing to share her food with anyone? Even her own sister? No. You’ve got a special place in her heart Lena. I think you should go for it.” Maggie said. Everyone was getting a little sick of Lena and Kara ignoring the obvious feelings they had for each other. And insisting that they were just friends. 

“I wouldn’t want to make things awkward,” Lena said. “I mean, Kara is my friend. Isn’t that like some sort of no-no?” Lena asked. She was trained to be a businesswoman sure, but her social compass still wasn’t tuned very well. 

“Sometimes,” Maggie said with a shrug. “But your friendship with Kara has never been conventional. I’ve never seen Kara take such an interest in someone. Except maybe Mon-El. And that’s a little bit different. And you know how Ms. Sunshine is. She loves everyone.” Lena nodded slowly, chewing the inside of her cheek. Deciding to confide her feelings for Kara with Maggie. After all, Maggie was one of her closest friends besides Kara. Maggie and Mon-El. But she didn’t want to talk to Mon-El about this. She liked Mon-El. But he wasn’t exactly the person she could picture herself going to for relationship advice. Even if it was about their mutual friend. 

“I guess I’m just scared.” Lena finally said after a couple of minutes of silence. “Kara is one of the best things to happen to me. I guess I knew she had more than platonic feelings toward me somewhere inside my head, but can you blame me for not wanting to risk our friendship if our relationship doesn’t work out?” Lena asked and Maggie just shrugged. 

“All relationships take a certain amount of risk. It’s just like a business I guess.” Maggie said, trying to put it in terms that she thought Lena would understand. “The bigger the risk, the higher the potential payout. Does it not work out sometimes? Sure. But if you’re smart about it, you can always recoup your losses.” Maggie said. Lena just blinked, processing her words. Before she smiled and lightly punched Maggie on the shoulder. 

“You know, you’re wiser than you look Sawyer.” She teased. Maggie looked mock offended. 

“Hey! I can be very wise thank you! I may not be a daughter of Athena, but don’t you think we have enough of her kids in our group?” Maggie said with a chuckle. Lena laughed along with Maggie, nodding. 

“I guess so. Nike suits you much better. Even if you always lose your poll games to Alex.” Lena teased. Maggie pouted. 

“It’s not my fault. Nemesis is probably punishing me for winning all of our other bets.” She said, shrugging. “But stop avoiding. What are you going to do about Kara?” Lena sighed. 

“I… I want to… you know, try a relationship with her. But now isn’t the right time, you know? We’re in the middle of a potentially dangerous quest. I don’t want to just go up to her and say ‘Hey, I have feelings for you and I want to kiss you, all the time. Can we go out sometime?’ It feels kind of wrong somehow. One challenge at a time I suppose.” Lena reasoned. 

“Well, the way Kara looks at you sometimes, I think it’s probably safe to say that even if you told her that today, she’d be okay with it. But you’re probably right. Promise that you’ll ask her out when this is all over?” Maggie asked. Lena simply nodded. “Maybe pray to Aphro for some courage?” Maggie teased with a smirk. Lena just rolled her eyes. 

“I won’t need it,” Lena said, far more confidently than she was actually feeling about the idea. But it was getting increasingly more difficult to reign in her feelings for Kara. The last couple of nights they had slept together, Lena could easily get used to sleeping with and waking up next to Kara. Maggie noticed the goofy smile Lena had on her face. She laughed to herself, shaking her head. Lena was just as, if not more so, smitten with the daughter of Zeus.

II.

Meanwhile, Mon-El and Winn had changed into their swim shorts and were lounging around in the hotel pool. Both of them swam laps, trying to see who could go the longest. Unsurprising, Mon-El swam both more laps as well as quicker than Winn, but the shorter man wasn’t too fussed. He and Mon-El hadn’t ever been the closest of friends back at Demos, but with Maggie and Alex pairing up, and Kara and Lena, it left the two of them the odd ones out. Mon-El always tended to hang out with Kara. And Winn with James. But since James was left back at Demos, Winn got to know Mon-El more. 

“Hey man, what do you think of all this?” Winn asked, sitting on the side of the pool, watching Mon-El continue to swim laps before he swam over to the poolside where Winn was sitting, resting his arms on the wet tiles. 

“What do you mean?” He asked. Winn shrugged. 

“This quest. The Titans. Lena, even I guess. I mean, she’s awesome. Don’t get me wrong, but ever since the Chimera fight yesterday, she’s seemed a little off. A little more… snappy I guess. Kara said she was having troubles sleeping last night too.” Winn said, a little concerned for their friend. Mon-El frowned. 

“I don’t think we can draw any conclusion that the Chimera was anything but a targeted attack. The Titans know we’re coming for them. I think the question is why have we gotten this far without running into more opposition. As for Lena, she’s always been one to handle things on her own.” Mon-El said. She had quickly wormed her way into his heart, like the younger sister that he had lost. He wasn’t trying to replace his family that had died when he was young, but having that kind of interaction again was comforting for him. “If there’s something really wrong, she’ll tell us.” He said confidently. “But you know how we all have our own skeletons in our pasts? She’s no exception. She probably has more than most of us.” Mon-El said sadly. He had been privy to some of the stories of her childhood, though not nearly as many as Kara he was sure of. Winn nodded. 

“Yeah. I guess I’m just worried. I don’t know what the gods were thinking, sending her on this quest. She’s so young.” He said. Not in age years, as they were all only a few years older than Lena on average, but in terms of experience in their world. She had only been at Demos for a handful of months, whereas most of them had been there for years, at least 5 more most of them except Winn, who had only been there for 3. 

“What she lacks in godly experience, she makes up for in real world experience though,” Mon-El argued. “She knows how to survive out here. Probably more than most. Her family name helps with that. But she’s got street smarts in the upper echelons of society. It’s how she was brought up. The prophecy allowed her to bring us for the godly experience she’s lacking. But she’s also guiding us too.” Mon-El said with a smile. He believed that Lena knew what she was doing. He trusted that she would see to it that they all got back safely. Winn nodded thoughtfully. 

“You’re probably right, man. Want to go dry off and get ready for lunch?” Winn said, glancing at the clock They still had an hour or so, but knowing Kara, if they weren’t exactly on time, she’d eat all the food herself. Mon-El nodded, lifting himself out of the pool, shaking some of the water from his body. 

III. 

Alex and Kara decided to go sightseeing on the strip. Both girls had never been to Vegas. In fact, the hadn’t left Demos for an extended amount of time in years. So they were both eager to just take in the sights. Kara was also excited to just spend some time with her sister. They had always been close, but for the last few months, ever since Lena had come into their lives, Kara had been spending increasing amounts of time with her. 

“So, how are things with you and Maggie?” Kara asked. Alex grinned as they walked past a couple of casinos. 

“Things are good. We’re thinking of going on a trip to Greece together once we graduate. A little bit of a vacation.” Alex said. 

“That sounds awesome! Back to the land of our forefathers?” Kara teased her sister. Alex had always been extremely fascinated by the vast history that to the rest of the world was just mythology. Alex nodded. 

“Yeah.” She said excitedly. “Seeing some of the places there is like a dream. I’m pretty sure Maggie is just humoring me, you know she doesn’t really care about history or anything. But I managed to bribe her into it.” Alex said with a smirk. Kara tilted her head to the side. 

“Do I want to know…” Kara trailed off and Alex shook her head. 

“Probably not. Some of the things I offered would probably hurt your innocent ears.” Alex teased, poking Kara’s side. The blonde yelped a bit and pouted. 

“Hey! I’m not innocent!” She insisted, huffing a little bit. Alex chuckled. 

“Oh yeah, I forgot. Some of those things you probably want to do to Lena. How has been sharing a bed with your crush been?” Alex laughed. Kara sighed wistfully. Alex was the only other one that knew about the prophecy about her love life from Aphrodite. And Kara had confided in Alex her suspicions about Lena, as well as her growing feelings for the young halfblood ever since they had met. 

“It’s so hard!” Kara complained. “The first night I woke up with her almost sleeping on top of me. She had moved in her sleep, ending up cuddling with me most of the night. I woke up once and there she was. She was way too cute and beautiful and peaceful for me to move her, so I just… ugh.” Kara groaned. “It’s just unfair how perfect she is,” Kara complained. Alex remembered those exactly feelings that Kara was experiencing when she had met Maggie for the first time. So she could relate. 

“Why don’t you just talk to her? If you’re right about the prophecy, and your instincts are hardly ever wrong, she’s probably just as in love with you as you are with her. I don’t see the problem here.” Alex said. Kara’s shoulders sagged. 

“What if I’m wrong? Lena’s friendship is way more important than any feelings I might have for her. She’s such a…” Kara paused, trying to find the right word. “Broken person, emotionally. She’s got barriers at high as Olympus. She can be cold, detached, even a bitch sometimes. At least, if any of the stories she’s told me are any indication. But I don’t see that person at all. She’s so vulnerable and loving, and kind. She has those barriers because people have hurt her in the past. She had to learn to protect herself. What if I’m wrong and I end up hurting her? Playing with her feelings. She’ll hate me.” Kara said with a slight sniffle. Alex stopped walking, turning to face Kara, putting her hands on her shoulders, looking her straight in the eye. 

“You’re not playing with her Kara. You do have feelings for her. I can tell. Hell, everyone I think can tell. And I know that Lena returns them. She’d be crazy not to. You’re one hell of a catch yourself. And I don’t think she could ever hate you, Kara. Even if you were wrong. That girl looks up to you. I think you’re one of the first real close friends she’s had. I don’t think she’ll let go of that anytime soon. Just… you know, be careful with her. Sounds like she’s had a lot of heartbreak. And also let her know, if she hurts  _ you, _ even Apollo won’t be able to stop me from killing her.” Alex said seriously. Kara laughed. She stepping closer to Alex, pulling her older sister in for a hug, squeezing her tightly. 

“Thank you,” Kara whispered into Alex’s ear. She stepped back from her sister. “I’ll talk to her,” Kara said, a surge of confidence coursing through her. Heck, she was a daughter of Zeus, she could overcome anything if she wanted to. And she really wanted to this time. 

IV.

Around noon, the entire group met up at some Chinese restaurant that Lena had recommended. It was her favorite one in the city. Alex and Kara were the last ones to arrive, heading towards the podium. “Name?” The waitress asked. 

“Should be under the name ‘Luthor.’” Alex said as Lena had made the reservations. She said it would be easier for everyone if she did. The woman nodded, beckoning for the two women to follow her. 

“This way.” Kara and Alex followed her to a secluded table near the back of the restaurant, affording the group a moderate amount of privacy. The other four were already there, talking about what they had been doing that morning. Kara spotted an empty chair next to Lena and made a beeline for it, sitting down next to her crush. Lena pulled her attention away from her conversation with Mon-El, who was sitting on her other side to say hi to Kara. She smiled warmly at the blonde who felt a happy, warm heat pool in her stomach at the way Lena looked at her. 

Looking back at Lena, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it before. Or maybe she had and she had been willfully ignoring it because she was scared. But Kara smiled back. “Hi, Lena.” She said a little shyly, but Lena seemed to not sense anything wrong. 

“Hi, Kara. Have fun with Alex?” She inquired curiously, genuinely interested in how Kara’s day was going. The blonde nodded. 

“It’s been awesome. Not that I don’t love hanging out with you, but I’ve missed my sister.” Kara said. Lena nodded. 

“It’s okay. I understand.” Giving Kara a somewhat bittersweet smile. She missed her own brother, Lex quite a bit. But knew that he was so wrapped up in the family company that he didn’t have time for his little sister anymore. It had been that way ever since Lena was a teenager and he had left for college. She was glad that Kara had such a pure and strong relationship with her older sibling. 

“What about you? Good time with Maggie?” Kara asked. Lena seemed to stiffen up a little bit but relaxed quickly. 

“It was… enlightening.” Lena said cryptically, leaving Kara a little confused. But as it was clear the raven haired woman wasn’t going to elaborate, she just nodded. “But it’s been good. Maggie was kind of my first friend here. It’s been good to just… hang out.” Lena said. 

The entire group fell into easy conversation about their days until food arrived. The restaurant was one that had a small assortment of daily specials to choose from and Maggie had chosen something for Alex that she thought her girlfriend would like as they were all getting hungry and the two sisters had been running a bit late. Lena had also taken it upon herself to throw her weight around a little bit and had the chef prepare a platter of potstickers especially for Kara, whose eyes lit up as soon as they were placed in front of her. “Did you have something to do with this?” Kara eyed the potstickers. Lena raised an eyebrow. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lena said innocently. Kara just laughed, instead leaning closer to Lena. 

“Thank you.” She said, whispering in Lena’s ear before placing a soft kiss on Lena’s cheek. Her actions didn’t go unnoticed to Maggie and Alex, the former gave Lena a subtle thumbs up while the latter smiled softly at her sister. Lena herself blushed before busying herself with the food in front of her, striking up a conversation with Mon-El, though her mind was far from the topic at hand. Rather thinking about how soft Kara’s lips had felt against her cheek. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little relationship building. Getting around to Kara and Lena's romance too. Now that they've both acknowledged they have feelings for each other, to other people mind you. And they also seem to have different timelines for their relationship too. We'll see where that all goes. 
> 
> It's been amusing to see people speculate about Lena's parentage and why the Titan's are so interested in her. Well, the mystery is almost coming to a close. I think the next chapter should answer a lot of those questions. 
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	16. Revelation

I.

After a rather uneventful lunch, bar a potsticker eating competition between Mon-El and Kara which Kara quite easily won, the group all decided to head back to the hotel to hang out together. Maggie challenged Winn to a game of pool, betting a week of her Ancient Greek homework against his History homework that she could beat him. The son of Hephaestus took up her bet eagerly. Mon-El did the dutiful friend thing and bet on Winn, though all the girls bet on Maggie. “Thanks for the vote of confidence guys.” Winn complained as they exited the restaurant. 

Kara shrugged. “I’ve seen you play pool before Winn.” She replied. Winn pouted, but didn’t offer any defense. Lena laughed softly at her friend’s expense. 

“Don’t worry man, I’ve got you.” Mon-El said brightly, patting Winn on the back. Winn threw Mon-El a grateful look, nodding to his friend. 

The group decided to cut through a mostly empty lot to get back to their hotel faster. It looked like it was the former home to some sort of office building or something that had been knocked down. There was a smattering of rubble around in the dust and gravel of the lot. A sudden chill descended on the halfbloods, strange for the time of day it was. The sun shining directly overhead. Lena felt a shiver run up her spine, absentmindedly rubbing her right wrist. Kara seemed to sense the same chill, bring her left hand to grab the pendant around her neck, her right hand immediately finding Lena’s hand, grabbing hold of it tightly. Lena winced a little bit at the amount of force Kara was using, but didn’t comment. 

“Stop.” Alex said, holding out a hand to everyone, taking a hesitant step forward. A slight shimmer appeared in front of the group before a foggy mist rolled into the lot. “The Mist.” Alex said hesitantly, taking a slight step back. Maggie grabbed one of her knives out of the hidden sheath in her jacket. The Mist was a sure sign that there was something mythical headed their way. And in such a public place, they had no idea what any passing humans might see. 

Out of the rolling mist came a group of twelve Scythian Dracaena, human females with large serpent tails instead of legs, all brandishing spears and shields, making their way towards the group. What seemed to be the leader of the pack, slightly in front of the others spoke, “Halfbloodsss. My lord Kronos wishess you taken care of.” She said, eyeing the six halfbloods. 

Kara tore the pendant from her neck, pressing the button it and extending her sword and brandishing it in front of her. Mon-El, being a son of Ares, was able to call his sword and shield at will. Maggie pulled out another dagger from a sheath on her thigh and Alex pulled a small rod from her pocket, the small metal piece extending into a full staff. Winn was playing with a pouch on his belt. Which left Lena. She rubbed at her wrist, feeling it tingle again. However, this time Lena focused on the tingling sensation. She held her hand out in front of her as the mark glowed a light golden color and her sword materialized in her hand. 

“We’re not the ones who will be taken care of.” Kara hissed, more defensive than Lena had ever seen her before. The leader of the pack seemed to turn her attention to Kara. 

“Kara Danversss. The prodigal daughter of Zeus. We will take great pleasure in delivering your head to lord Kronos.” Lena gripped her sword tighter, her eyes narrowing at the monsters. This must be part of what Hyperion had warned her about in her dreams. Mon-El, it seemed, also took great offense at the statement, yelling angrily, charging towards the pack. Maggie and Alex were quick to follow. 

The son of Ares quickly engaged two of the Scythian Dracaena, splitting them away from the pack to fight them on his own, dodging and blocking their spears with his shield, swiping at them with his own sword. Maggie and Alex, close behind Mon-El had peeled away four of them and were standing back to back, surrounded by the snake women. “I’ve got your back Danvers.” Maggie said with a smirk, looking at one of the monsters in front of her. 

“You’d better not let me down Sawyer, because you still owe me dinner from that pool game you lost last night.” Alex retorted. Maggie laughed as the two shot out towards the Scythian Dracaena, moving with speed and grace that only two seasoned combatants with years of team experience together could do.

Winn grabbed a few small bronze spheres from his pouch, looking at them hesitantly. One of the Scythian Dracaena hissed, approaching him. Winn’s eyes widened. “Well, here goes nothing.” He said to himself, pressing his thumb into a little indent in the sphere, tossing it to the woman in front of him. With her shield strapped to her arm, she was able to have a free hand to catch it. Winn backed away slowly from the monster as she frowned, examining the sphere. Winn heard a quiet beeping from the device before the monster dropped it, quickly trying to back away from it. Unfortunately, she wasn’t quick enough and the sphere exploded into a cloud of bronze shrapnel, hitting the Scythian Dracaena that had held it and hitting another that had been approaching Winn as well. Both women screeched out in pain as the small pieces of bronze were lodged in their skin, the heated metal slowly melting into the monster’s hides. 

This left Lena and Kara to face four of the Scythian Dracaena on their own. Kara stepped slightly in front of Lena, in an effort to protect her. Lena was going to protest, but Kara held her behind her with her free hand. “Please, let me handle this.” Kara murmured to Lena.  

“I don’t need protection Kara.” Lena hissed quietly. “I can handle myself.” She said, echoing Kara’s own words from that morning. Kara frowned, but still shielded Lena from the four women approaching the halfbloods. 

“Do not worry daughter of Zeusss. It is only you we want. The other is not to be harmed.” The leader of the pack of monsters hissed. Lena frowned as did Kara, who raised her broadsword with both hands, freeing Lena from her grasp, the young halfblood stepping out from behind Kara to face the monsters head on. 

“What do you mean?” Lena questioned curiously. Kara eyed her friend, but stayed silent for the moment. The leader hissed, pointing to the sword Lena held. 

“You are  _ The One _ . Not to be harmed. At the command of Lord Hyperion himself. The others, are to be killed.” Kara’s gaze hardened at the declaration, while Lena just furrowed her brow. 

“What do you mean,  _ The One _ ?” She questioned again. Kara was about to open her mouth, but the monster cut her off. 

“Lord Hyperion will tell you when the time isss right. For now, all you need know iss that your friendss must die.” Lena tightened her grip on her sword, her anger at all of the cryptic words growing. Lena could feel her skin growing hotter by the minute. She failed to notice Kara backing slowly away from her, a slight look of fear in her eyes as Lena’s skin began to glow a golden yellow. 

“I am  _ so _ tired of this!” Lena said in a dangerously low and cold tone of voice. “People getting to decide what I am allowed to know and not know.” Her eyes narrowing at the monsters in front of her, who also seemed to be cowering in fear of the power that Lena possessed. “You _ will _ tell me what I want to know or I will send you all back to Tartarus.” The woman hissed angrily, approaching the monsters in front of her, all trace of her previous fear gone. 

“We cannot…” The Scythian Dracaena stammered, holding her hands up in submission of Lena’s display of power. “You mussst understand. Lord Hyperion has forbid usss…” Lena wanted to scream. All this talk of Hyperion and his involvement in her life. Lena felt her anger bubble over at the mention of Hyperion, the heat on her skin hot enough to burn someone that touched her. 

Suddenly and without warning, Lena was enveloped in a bright, searing light causing Kara who had backed away a few feet to shield her eyes. Though she heard the monsters scream as the light faded. Kara gasped as she watched Lena fall to the ground, unconscious, rushing over to her friend, getting down on her knees, shaking Lena slightly in an effort to wake her up. 

Mon-El, who had killed the two Scythian Dracaena he had been fighting, ran over to Kara, stopping next to the daughter of Zeus. “What happened?” He said, a little out of breath and dripping in sweat from his fight. 

“I don’t know! One minute the monsters were taunting her then she got so angry and started glowing. And the next thing I know, a flash of light exploded from her, leaving the monsters dead and her unconscious.” Kara said frantically, gesturing at the piles of four piles of ash surrounding them. Kara gently lifted Lena’s head onto her lap, bending down and kissing her on the forehead. Mon-El looked at the two sympathetically, rubbing Kara’s back to try to comfort the panicking halfblood. “Please wake up Lena. Please.” Kara whispered. “I… There’s something I just have to tell you and I can’t unless you wake up.” 

II.

Lena groggily woke up, laying on the ground. She shook her head, trying to shake off some of the disorientation she was feeling before it registered that she had once again been brought to the place in her dreams where she had met Hyperion a handful of times. But this time instead of being confused, all she felt was anger. She quickly stood, trying to shake some of her anger, it was surprisingly easy to summon a ball of light and throwing it at a stone pillar. One after another. 

She continued this until her energy levels were depleted, her breathing heavy as her tensed shoulders relaxed slightly. Then she heard a faint clapping sound. Looking up and over to the side she saw the Titan Lord himself leaning against an intact pillar, watching her with a smug look on his face. When he noticed that she had seen him, he pushed away from the pillar, approaching her. Lena instantly tensed again, almost snarling at the Titan. “Ah bravo Lena. You’re just as powerful as I had hoped you would be.” Hyperion said, almost gleefully. “You’ve grown into a strong halfblood. More than even I admit I thought you would be.” 

Lena frowned, clenching her fists, angrily narrowing her eyes at the teasing gaze of the Titan. “No more games Hyperion. What is going on? Why did those monsters recognize me? Why were they not going to kill me? On your orders no less. Why do I even matter to you?” Lena shouted. If she had been not running on so much adrenaline, she would have thought twice about yelling at the third most powerful Titan in existence, but she was running too high on anger to think about it. Hyperion, instead, gave her an amused look. 

“I’m still surprised you have not figured it out yet. Maybe, for as powerful as you are, you lack the intelligence of one of us.” He sighed. “A shame. But perhaps it is the price you have paid for your humanity.” He said. Lena frowned, her mind reeling and processing what he had implied. Her eyes widened a bit, taking a step back from the man in front of her. 

“No… There’s no way…” Lena stammered, her anger seeming to have drained of her, leaving uncertainty and disbelief in its place. Hyperion took a step toward her. 

“You are not the daughter of a god, Lena Luthor. You are mine.” He said, his flaming eyes flaring as he claimed her as his daughter, the mark on her wrist glowing and burning. Lena hissed, her left hand flying to her wrist to rub at the mark, hoping to soothe the pain. 

“You…” Lena struggled out as the pain from her wrist faded, though the mark was still prominent on her skin. “You’re lying. Apollo claimed me. Treated me like his daughter. You? You’ve done nothing but use and manipulate me. Why would you ever think I would believe that I’m your child?” Lena hissed. 

“Because as much as you may wish it, I am telling you the truth.” Hyperion said. “You have always been my daughter. The gods have been lying to you.” He said angrily, an anger to match her own in fact. Lena frowned. 

“Why would they do that?” She asked, not that she believed Hyperion in the slightest, but she wanted to hear what he had to say. She had no idea when she would wake up, so she decided to make the most of this. As it seemed Hyperion was in a talking mood that he hadn’t been earlier. 

“You hold the power of a Titan, Lena. A power, that even diluted by your human half, has the potential to eclipse even that of some of the gods themselves. A power like that on their side, working against the Titans? A great asset to Olympus to keep us in line. To send a message to us that one of our own can be turned against us. As tool to use. And if you were to join us, a power that would certainly mean an end to the reign of the gods. Imagine Zeus’ gleeful mind when he realized that he could both protect his reign and keep us in check after his foolish bargain with us all those years ago. The real question is, why would he  _ not _ lie to you?” Hyperion chuckled. Lena’s heart rate picked up. She didn’t know what to believe. On one hand, she was extremely skilled at picking up when people were making things up and he seemed to be telling her the truth, as much as it hurt her to see it. But on the other hand, she couldn’t be the child of a Titan. Could she?

“Say I were to believe you, what do you even have to gain from telling me this? I’ve told you time and time again, I will not join you. Why not just kill me?” She questioned, determined to get to the bottom of this before she woke up. Hyperion shrugged. 

“I would ask you why are you loyal to the gods? All they have done thus far is lie to you. What allegiance do you owe them?” Lena was quick to respond. 

“Apollo has treated me like a daughter far more than you have.” She retorted with some venom in her voice. “And you haven’t been entirely truthful with me either. You went along with the idea that Apollo is my father. Assuming that you’re even telling me the truth now.” She added. Hyperion bowed his head slightly.

“I will give you that Lena. But as I told you, you were not ready to know. In truth, you still are not. But our dimwitted foot soldiers have forced my hand. And I also had not known just how much your power has grown. But I will not lie to you this time. On my honor as a Titan and sworn on the River Styx.” He said, raising his right hand, placing his left on his chest, bowing slightly to Lena. The young halfblood was surprised at Hyperion’s gesture, but knew that a word of a Titan was not so easily broken, especially a promise as powerful as that. 

“So you truly are my father?” Lena said hesitantly, not sure if she wanted to know the answer. But he nodded. 

“I am.” He said, and Lena’s heart dropped. She now had proof that she was, in fact, not half a god, rather half a Titan. But she looked up at him. 

“Why do you even care? All I’ve ever been told is that Titans don’t care about anything but their own power. Even you distanced yourself from Kronos in order to protect your power and in fear of his wrath.” Lena questioned, but all Hyperion gave her was a highly offended look, folding his arms across his chest, staring down at her. 

“The gods and the mortal world know nothing of us.” Hyperion hissed in anger. Anger that his daughter had been twisted so far against them. Her real family. “Yes, it is true. We lust for power. We want to be free from Zeus’ control. My nephew is just as hungry for power as we are. He may not have eaten his children as my brother did, but he controls his siblings and children in other ways. But our family is important to us, Lena. And like it or not, you are my daughter and thus one of us. And we take care of our own.” He said, placing a hand on her shoulder, a lot more gentle than she imagined he could be. 

“But the Gods of Olympus are corrupt. They always are and will always be. Zeus will always care for nothing but his own power. We simply do not want to continue living in fear of the Gods. A new world is coming Lena, no matter who comes out the victor at the end of this war. As my daughter, you would command such power in a new era of the Titans. Something that you have nothing of now. The Gods may have sent you on this quest, but you are nothing but a pawn in their plan. They will either get the information they want from you or you will die. They don’t care for you, even Apollo. It is all part of their plan to manipulate you into being loyal to them. And turn you against us.” He said with a sneer. 

“I…” Lena said, but quickly narrowed her eyes, pushing his hand off her shoulder. “No. You’re wrong. I may be your daughter, but I’m nothing like you.” She said angrily. Hyperion chuckled at the flames that enveloped her eyes, not unlike his own. A true sign of her heritage. “Release me from this nightmare.” Lena demanded. 

“This is not the end Lena. This is only the beginning.” Hyperion said, bowing slightly to her before glowing a pale gold before disappearing in a bright flash of light. 

III. 

Hyperion appeared before Kronos as he pulled himself out of his daughter’s mind. He kneeled before his brother before Kronos beckoned him to stand. “Well?” He asked, aware that Hyperion was going to tell Lena of her true heritage. 

“She is more powerful that I could have ever imagined.” Hyperion said wistfully. “She has not accepted her fate yet. But she will. In time. The seed has been planted. She will join us soon enough.” He said confidently. Kronos appraised his brother and second in command. 

“Good, our plans are finally coming to a head. We will soon have the weapon that Koios foresaw. And then nothing will stand in our way. And what of the other halfbloods?” He asked. 

“They survived the attack. But they may yet be useful to us. My daughter cares for these halfbloods. They may still have a role to play.” He reasoned. If Lena could not be convinced of the merits of their plans, perhaps she could be convinced to join them through other means. Hyperion was nothing if not intelligent. It would be foolish to go in without a backup plan. He hoped that his daughter would willingly join them, but he was not above threatening her friends if she didn’t. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hi, I just couldn't wait till the weekend to upload this. I'm impatient, sue me. Damn. Long chapter (also long author’s note, sorry), longer than I normally write for this story, but cutting it off anywhere would have just been cruel and unusual punishment. So yup, Lena isn’t the daughter of Apollo, rather the daughter of Hyperion. I thought I was making that conclusion rather obvious, but after the last couple of chapters it seemed like I had completely thrown people off in the opposite direction. Not my intent, but it is what it is I suppose.
> 
> But this was the plan from the beginning, ever since I outlined it a year ago. Hence why it was actually important to the story that Lena was the daughter of Apollo, and not another god that she may have have a better fit with, such as Hecate or Nemesis. Because while they’re not exactly the same in scope, it’s most plausible that Lena has photokinesis from Hyperion but a daughter of Apollo also has the potential to have it too. Helios was also looked at, but since he has such a small role in Greek Mythos, that idea was scrapped.
> 
> And ever since I repurposed this for Supercorp and decided that Lena would play this role, rather than Kara, because that could have been the other possibility, but was rejected rather quickly, is that I can actually explore the inner turmoil that Lena is experiencing in canon. That she comes from a bad family, but that doesn’t mean she has to be subjected to be like them. And all the trimmings that comes with that. I think, by the end of the series, everyone will be happy with the journey she takes. But I’ll leave that up to you guys to judge. As I said at the beginning, this is an extremely Lena centric exploration of her character. And in truth, her relationship with Kara, while important, is almost secondary to why I wanted to write this. This doesn’t revolve around Supercorp. It revolves around Lena.
> 
> Also, I just finished outlining the second part of this story and god it's going to be full of angst. So be prepared. Can't talk much about it because it would spoil the ending of this one. But I think the second one will be even more fun to write than this one. 
> 
> Anyway, I think I’ve rambled enough. Just a little insight into the inner workings of my brain if you were interested. I hope the big reveal was what you guys hoped for. And wasn’t a let down. I promise that this, while maybe a little predictable the way I set it up, will have many more twists and turns along the way. We’re far from finished. Also, I'm not usually one to ask or care about reviews, because I love writing regardless. But I would love to know your guys' feelings towards this. Good? Bad? Meet expectations? Just keep in mind that this is also a plot device for things to come as well. 
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	17. Confession

I.

Lena woke, shooting up out of her mind. She was breathing heavily after her discovery. She looked around to take in her surroundings before she felt a body pressed up next to her, a set of very strong arms wrapped around her. She looked down to see Kara wrapped around her, her face buried into Lena’s shoulder. “Kara?” Lena said weakly. 

Kara looked up and Lena could see the redness in her eyes, most likely from crying. Lena’s heart broke a little bit, but Kara smiled widely, pulling Lena into a tight hug. Very tight in fact. Lena gasped a little bit. “Kar, super strength.” Lena managed to gasp out. She felt Kara loosen her grip, but didn’t let go. 

“Lena! I was so worried.” Kara said, her voice quivering. Lena rubbed circles on Kara’s back, certain that Kara had probably not left her side since she had passed out.

“How long have I been out?” Lena asked, not entirely sure how long it had been. She heard Kara sniffle. 

“36 hours, just about.” Kara whispered. Lena’s jaw almost dropped. Hyperion had held her in her mind for a day and a half. The next time she saw him, she was going to give him such a tongue lashing. She didn’t care that he was her father, nor that he was a powerful Titan. He was going to get an earful for making Kara cry like she did. 

“I… what happened?” She asked. “That last thing I remember was feeling so angry at those monsters and then… nothing.” She half lied. Kara released her, looking at her friend. 

“You collapsed after that. We took care of the remain Dracaena, but we couldn’t get you to wake up.” Kara sniffled. “We couldn’t take you to a human hospital or anything. Too much of a risk. So we brought you back here and hoped you would wake up soon. Winn called James and asked him to see if J’onn had any advice. He just said you probably collapsed from exhaustion from using your powers. And that you would probably wake up on your own soon.” Kara was going to continue, but Mon-El opened the door to their room. 

“Hey Kara, any…” He started before seeing that Lena had woke up. “Lena! You’re awake!” He said happily. “I’ll go get the others.” He said before running off to go grab everyone else. They all poured into her room 

“Lena!” Maggie exclaimed. “Don’t scare us like that again, kid.” She said, sitting down on the bed next to Lena. Mon-El and Winn nodded in agreement. Lena pouted at being called a kid. 

“I’ll try not to.” She said, rubbing her forehead gently. 

“We were all worried about you,” Winn said. “After we couldn’t wake you up…” He trailed off. Lena shrugged. 

“Well, I feel fine now. In fact, we really need to go.” She said urgently. “The Titans are… well, finishing up their plans. We need to find out what they’re doing. And fast.” Lena said. Alex frowned. 

“How do you know that? Did something happen while you were out? Another dream?” Kara, Mon-El, and Winn looked confusedly at Alex, not having been privy to the conversation that Lena had with both Maggie and Alex back at Demos. 

“Another?” Kara asked curiously. Lena looked a little sheepish. 

“I… I’ve been having dreams for a few weeks now. I didn’t know if they were anything to be concerned about, you know, new to this world, so I asked Maggie and Alex about them. They said I should talk to J’onn about them, but I didn’t get the chance after he assigned me this quest. I figured they could wait.” Lena said, looking back, seeing how stupid that decision was. 

“But…” Kara pressed. Lena sighed. She knew she was going to have to come clean about her parentage. They were going to find out at some point, Hyperion wouldn’t hide it from everyone forever. And it would be better for them to hear it from her, rather than him. 

“But I was wrong. I…” Lena’s voice caught in her throat. She wasn’t sure how to voice her confession. It was going to change everything between them. She trusted her friends to believe her and support her, but it still didn’t change the fact she was a child of a Titan. Kara grabbed Lena’s hand, sensing that she was struggling to say whatever it was. She gave Lena an encouraging look. 

“The Titan Hyperion has been the one visiting me in my dream.” Lena finally said. Alex and Maggie frowned, a concerned look crossing their faces. Mon-El and Winn just looked confused. And Kara placed a gentle hand on Lena’s shoulder. 

“What did he say?” Alex asked, not entirely sure she wanted the answer.

“He said that they are planning something big. A war. And he’s trying to get me to join them.” Lena said, choking out the last part. The entire group was visibly taken aback at the admission. Mon-El was the first to recover. 

“Why? Why would he do that? Why would a child of one of the gods help destroy our parents?” Mon-El asked. Lena gulped. 

“Because I’m not a child of the gods. I’m a child of the Titans.” Lena said quietly. Alex’s eyebrows shot up, as did Maggie’s and Winn’s. 

“No. How? The Titans hate humans. Why would they have a child with one? How do you know he wasn’t lying to you?” Alex fired off. Everyone else seemed to be speechless. Though Kara still had Lena’s hand in her grip. 

Lena just shrugged. “I don’t know how to answer that Alex. He just said something about my humanity. And I know he wasn’t lying to me because he swore on the River Styx he would tell me the truth.” She said bitterly. Alex narrowed her eyes slightly. 

“You’re sure you didn’t know?” Alex asked cautiously. Both Lena and Kara shot Alex a dirty look. 

“Alex, she wouldn’t lie about something like that. If she just found out, she just found out.” Kara scolded her sister before turning to Lena. “You know this doesn’t change anything, right?” 

“But it changes a lot, Kara,” Lena argued. The Gods have been lying to her. Using her. Though Lena decided to keep that thought to herself. They may have had their reasons. At least, Lena hoped that was the case. “I’m a risk,” Lena said. “Who would ever trust the child of a Titan?” Lena said bitterly. 

“I would!” Kara said, looking up and around at their friends, who all nodded in agreement, even Alex though she was a little more hesitant about it. As was Winn. 

“We all would.” Mon-El insisted. “We know the real you Lena. You’re not like your dad. We trust you. And that’s all the matters.” He finished, Kara nodding in agreement. Lena found herself throwing Mon-El a small smile. 

“Thank you.” She said to him. He just waved her off. 

“It’s what friends do. It’s what family does.”

II.

While they had some evidence of what the Titans were planning, the group still needed to complete their journey to Mount Othrys. So they packed up quickly, having lost a day and a half. They decided to grab a bus to San Francisco. It would be a 15-hour ride, but it was the safest and quickest way. Flying wasn’t an option. Not with monsters after them. They might have been able to get a car, but none of them were sure how long that would take. 

So they bought their tickets at the bus station right outside of Vegas and boarded a Greyhound to San Francisco. Kara insisted on staying close to Lena for the entire trip, Lena, her mind still reeling sat in silence next to Kara, resting her head on Kara’s shoulder, cuddling up to her side, seeking comfort in her friend. 

Kara, on the other hand, was feeling conflicted. Not about Lena’s parentage. Nothing about Lena had really changed. She was still the same person, no matter who her parent was. What she was conflicted about was telling Lena about her feelings. She desperately wanted to tell Lena what she felt for the younger girl. But after the day’s revelation, she wasn’t sure if it was the right time. She could only imagine the thoughts rolling around in Lena’s head. Loading her with her feelings of affection wouldn’t help. 

The blonde figured she could wait to tell Lena. After all, they had ample time to get to that. They just had come back from their quest alive first. So Kara decided she would wait. She would be there for Lena as a friend. For now. 

A few hours into their trip as they passed the state line into California, something caught Alex’s eye. Through the trees, she could just make out a shadow running through the tree line. She elbowed her sleeping girlfriend. “What the fuck Alex?” Maggie complained. 

“Not now.” Alex hissed, pointing out the window. Maggie looked in the direction she was pointing. She squinted to see what Alex was referring to before she could just make out the shadow that was following them along the treeline. And as the two girls further looked, what looked like a head turned to look at them and the two tensed at the glowing red eyes that they stared into. “We need to get off.” Alex said seriously, not wanting the humans to be harmed. “Hellhounds.” Maggie said, a little in fear. They looked to the seat beside them where Mon-El and Winn sat. 

“We need to leave. Now.” Maggie said seriously. Mon-El was about to question Maggie but decided not to. The seriousness in Maggie's voice told him enough. He nodded, getting up and subtlety moving to the back of the bus where the emergency brake was. 

“Kara, we need to leave,” Alex said, looking over the seat at her sister, Lena asleep on her shoulder. Kara frowned. 

“Why?” She asked. Alex sighed. 

“Hellhounds are following us. We need to lose them. I don’t know how long they’ve been following us. Or why they haven’t attacked yet, but I don’t want to take any chances. We’re sitting ducks on this bus. If we flee into the trees, we might be able to lose them.” Alex reasoned. Kara nodded, gently shaking Lena. 

“Lena. Wake up.” Kara whispered. Lena stirred. “Seriously. We’re in danger.” She said with a little more urgency. 

“What?” Lena said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. 

“We’re being followed. Alex wants to try to lose the monsters in the trees.” Kara said softly. Lena looked up at Kara, sitting upright in her seat, nodding. Alex looked at the two girls before giving Mon-El a thumbs up. He pulled the emergency brake, the bus squealing to a halt. The sound of startled passengers and an angry driver resonated around them, but they paid no attention. 

Instead the halfbloods looked in horror at the pack of hellhounds that burst from the trees towards the bus. Large mastiffs, the size of grizzly bears with glowing red eyes charging towards them. What the humans saw, the halfbloods had no idea, but the looks of fear on the passenger’s eyes meant it wasn’t something friendly. Probably a bear of some sort. The first hellhound made contact with the bus, his claws sinking into the metal, pulling an entire panel off. Out of reflex, Lena’s powers tugged at her stomach. She pulled at the warm feelings, her hands beginning to glow. 

Alex backed away from Lena slowly before Lena let loose a flash of light that blinded the monsters of the Underworld. The one that had attacked the bus yelped, the light blinding it and the rest of the pack momentarily, giving the group enough time to escape. They all quickly hopped out of the opened the monster had made in the bus. 

They waited for the hellhounds to regain their vision, making sure that the entire pack followed them, rather than attacking the humans. The alpha seemed to notice that their targets had escaped, growling at them before chasing them into the forest. The group ran into the treeline, hoping to be able to fight them off or lose them in the dense forest. 

III. 

The pack of what was about eight hellhounds pursued the group. As they ran, Alex yelled out, “Split up, force them to break from the pack. They’ll be easier to lose that way.” Everyone nodded as Alex made a break to the left, Mon-El following her. Maggie and Winn continued running straight. While Kara and Lena ran to the right. The alpha growled, ordering his pack to follow the halfbloods. They split up, three following Kara and Lena, two following Maggie and Winn, and the remaining three following Alex and Mon-El. 

The three that followed Lena and Kara pursued them relentlessly, no matter what twists and turns they made. Lena decided to test something. Something that had been growing in the back of her mind. Without warning Kara, she split from her friend, running in the opposite direction. Kara yelled out, “Lena! What are you doing?” But she didn’t have the chance to follow Lena as the hellhounds cut her off, one running after Kara, the other two following Lena. 

The young Luthor continued running, hoping that they would eventually stop, recognizing her as the daughter of Hyperion, but it seemed as though they didn’t have the higher thinking the Dracaena had. Suddenly, Lena found herself on the ground, having tripping over a tree root. A jolt of fear shot through her as she turned onto her back to see the hellhounds growling and approaching her slowly. She tried to summon her sword or her powers, but before she had the chance, Hyperion appeared before her in a flash of light. The first time she had seen him outside her dreams. 

The hellhounds seemed to recognize him, his eyes flaring. The two hellhounds whined submissively. “Leave us.” He threatened. “Go after the others.” He said dangerously. The two hellhounds, quickly, turned and ran off into the forest. Hyperion turned to his daughter, offering her his hand. She hesitantly took it as the Titan pulled her to her feet. 

“Thank you.” She said, warily eyeing him. Hyperion bowed his head. 

“What kind of father would I be if I let you be killed.” He jested. Lena groaned. 

“What do you want from me?” She asked, a little frustrated and angry. Hyperion shrugged. 

“You know what I want. I want you to join us. Lead our armies against the Gods. With you at my side, we’ll be unstoppable.” Hyperion repeated his words from earlier. Lena scoffed. 

“And again I ask you, why would I do that? The Gods may have lied to me, but the Titans, you, are evil.” She spat. Hyperion narrowed his bright eyes at her. 

“Evil is all about perspective.” He said. Lena frowned. “How did your friends react to you being my daughter?” He asked. She wondered how he knew that she had told them, but figured he was a Titan, he probably had his ways. 

“They were accepting of it. They still care about me. More than I can say for you.” She retorted curtly. Hyperion chuckled, a sinister look in his eyes. 

“Are you sure it was acceptance? And not fear?” He challenged. Lena furrowed her brow, about to reply, but he continued. “Your friends, like the Gods, are afraid of what your power can do. And now that they know the limitless power you possess, what will stop them from using you in the future?” He challenged further. Lena clenched her fists together. 

“They wouldn’t do that!” She insisted. She immediately thought of Kara, her closest and dearest friend. Maybe more in the future. But she could never imagine Kara being afraid of her. Or using her. Lena didn’t fall for people easily. But she trusted Kara to never give up on her. Lena gazed harshly back into her father’s eyes. Hyperion seemed to relent though. 

“Perhaps.” He said thoughtfully. “But your friends still are loyal to the gods. And the gods will never be on your side.” He spat. “They fear beings more powerful than themselves. So they will always keep them on a leash. And that’s all you are Lena. A leashed dog at the behest of Olympus.” He said angrily. Lena’s gaze hardened as Hyperion approached her, grabbing her wrist. He touched it with his finger, her mark glowing. “Whether you accept it yet or not, you are the daughter of a Titan. And eventually, Olympus will turn its back on you. Look at Prometheus. My foolish nephew helped the Gods and yet they still punished him. They will never see past your Titan blood. You will be with us in the end, Lena Luthor.” 

Before Lena had the chance to reply, he disappeared in a flash of light, leaving her alone in the forest. She collapsed onto a large boulder that was nearby, sitting down, placing her face in her hands. Was he right? Was she doomed to the life of a Titan, regardless of anything that she did? Would all of her attempts to help the Gods eventually be for naught? Because her father had a point. Prometheus sided with the gods during the first Titanomachy. Yet his fate was still sealed to a lifetime of punishment. His loyalty was brushed aside after her… cousin she supposed dared to defy Zeus to help humanity. Was she doomed to the same fate in the end? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm glad you all thought the big reveal was good. I'm kind of excited that I don't have to hide that anymore. It's been agonizing. Now we really get to explore Lena's character. I've always wanted to examine her canon struggles. I love morally gray/anti-hero/conflicted characters like Lena. To me, they're always the most interesting to write and analyze. 
> 
> I'm also really excited, now that I've outlined, the sequel to this, to write it. I'm actually more excited for the sequel than the end of this one, but I obviously have to finish this before we get to that. I'd hazard a guess of maybe two or three more chapters? Max. I don't want to put to much stock on a number because that can always change. But that's what I'm estimating right now. Unless I end up adding fluff, which isn't likely. And the ending to this one is really only the beginning of a larger and more in-depth story. So I wouldn't be too bummed out about this one ending really. 
> 
> But I can't say too much. Otherwise, I'll spoil it. So you'll just have to wait and see. :) 
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	18. Doubt

I.

Before long, Lena heard her friends calling her name. “I’m here.” She shouted out and the other five halfbloods found her rather quickly. “Lena! Are you okay?” Kara asked quickly, hurrying over to her friend and checking her for any injuries, which there were none. Lena nodded without saying anything, though out of the corner of her eye she noticed Alex narrow her eyes, appraising her. 

Kara continued to check Lena over but found no sign of injury. Lena figured she might bruise later from the fall she took, but since she never even drew her sword, there obviously would be no scars or anything.

“Are you sure?” Maggie asked. 

“I’m fine.” Lena snaps, her emotions still running high from all the goings on of the last 48 hours. She felt Kara tense up next to her as the rest of her friends stepped back slightly, a look of concern on all of their faces. The young halfblood looked down to see her hands glowing a pale yellow color. She sighed, trying to relax and the glow faded. “I’m sorry Maggie.” She said. The senior nodded in understanding, though a little hesitantly. “I’m just stressed.” She tried, though she thought saw the look of fear deep in their eyes. Maybe her father had been right. 

“You’d be crazy to not be Lena.” Kara piped up, grabbing Lena’s hand that had been glowing not a minute ago. “You’ve been through a lot. Right, Alex?” She gritted out the last bit. Alex frowned but nodded. 

“Yeah, it’s been rough for you. Don’t worry.” She said curtly. Lena nodded stiffly, gripping Kara’s hand a little tighter. 

“What about the hellhounds?” Lena asked, changing the subject, away from herself. She had some thinking to do and she wasn’t in the mood to do it that current moment. 

“Some killed. Others fled for some reason.” Winn said with a shrug. Lena nodded, wondering if Hyperion had anything to do with it. He had sent the alpha off after all. Perhaps they had all followed their leader back home. 

“So, what’s the plan now? I don’t think the bus we arrived on is in any shape to keep going. And I don’t know if they would even allow us back on.” Lena said. Winn grabbed his phone, searching their location and for any possible transportation centers. 

“There’s a bus station a couple of miles from here. We could stop there and get a bus to San Fran.” He said. Alex nodded. 

“It’s probably the best possibility we have. I guess we better get going.” She said, grabbing Maggie’s hand and dragging her off without waiting for the others.” Mon-El and Winn scrambled to keep up after Mon-El whispered an apology to Lena. Kara frowned at her sister’s back, helping Lena to her feet. 

“Did I do something wrong?” Lena asked warily, wondering about Alex’s strange behavior. Kara sighed. 

“No. You did nothing wrong. Alex is just… being protective. I’ll talk to her. Again.” Kara said, her mind going back to her discussion with Alex earlier. 

II.

_ “Alex! She’s not her family. This doesn’t change anything.” Kara argued after she had found Alex, having killed the hellhound pursuing her. “Lena is still the same girl we met at Demos. I don’t know what you have against her, but this has to stop.” She said angrily.  _

_ “Kara. I’m just trying to protect you. You may unconditionally trust anyone, but I’m more realistic here. She’s a liability. Even if she’s truthful now, what’s to say that she doesn’t join her family later? We know they’re plotting to destroy Olympus now. Her loyalty is going to be split. And she’ll have to choose a side. What assurances do we have that it’ll be ours? Hyperion has been visiting her dreams for weeks if not months Kar! How do we know she’s telling the truth?” Alex reasoned, trying to get her little sister to see reason.  _

_ “Because I know who she is! She wouldn’t do that. I couldn’t… I love her Alex.” Kara whispered. “Please, just give her a chance. She’s never done anything to suggest that she would betray us.” She pled. Alex sighed, giving Kara a hesitant look.  _

_ “Fine. Just… be careful Kara. There’s more than Lena isn’t telling us.” Alex replied. Kara shook her head at her older sister. She knew that Alex was just trying to look out for her, but Kara would believe in Lena to the end of the time. And she knew that Lena wouldn’t let her down.  _

_ “Probably because she’s afraid of this very reaction Alex! Why would she tell us anything if you’re going to act hostile to her.” Kara defended. Alex just shook her head.  _

_ “I’m looking out for all of Kara. Lena’s father could be a problem. He’s Kronos’ right-hand man. Even if Lena truly isn’t one of them, he could use you to get to her. Could probably use any of us. I’m just asking that you be careful.” Alex implored.  _

_ “I can take care of myself Alex. One Titan doesn’t scare me.” She said, huffing before storming off to look for Lena. Alex stared at her back.  _

_ “It’s not just one Titan you have to be scared of Kara.” She said to herself, following her sister’s lead.  _

III. 

Kara and Lena lagged behind the others, Kara wanting to keep her distance from Alex for the time being. Lena was her priority for now. She knew her crush was hurting. And conflicted. And she wanted to do anything she could to help her. “Do you want to talk about it?” Kara asked softly. Lena just shrugged. 

“I don’t know. What is there to say?” Lena questioned. Kara just shrugged in response as well. 

“A lot. How are you feeling about all of this?” Kara questioned. Lena sighed. 

“Confused mostly. A little angry and betrayed. What am I even supposed to feel? The Titans aren't good… beings Kara. They’ll do anything do get what they want. And the blood of Titan runs in my veins. He said I’m one of them, and he’s right.” She said, a tone of defeat prominent in her voice. Kara stopped, turning to Lena and forcing the demititan to look at her. 

“You may have his blood, but you don’t have to be like them, Lena. You’re you. There’s nothing they can do to change that. You’re your own person. You get to choose what side you’re on and what you believe in.” Kara tried to encourage her friend. Lena smiled at Kara, nodding. 

“Yeah.” She said before she continued walking. Kara followed after Lena, reaching down to grab Lena’s hand. The halfblood looked up at Kara, giving her a lopsided smile, tightening her grip on Kara’s hand. The two had been dancing around their feelings for each other for so long that Lena just wanted to give in to it now and kiss Kara. But now wasn’t the right time, for either of them. 

“I guess I just… I expected something like this before I knew I was a halfblood.” Lena said sadly. “I was always to follow in Lillian and Lionel’s footsteps into the Luthor family business. Probably would be working in R&D or something, while Lex ran the company. It was just the expectations that came with the Luthor name. I can’t help but just feel like that’s what this is too.” Lena confided in Kara after a moment of silence. “I thought that after this happened to me, I could escape all of that. Make my own life. I guess I was wrong.” She said bitterly. Kara threw Lena a sympathetic smile. 

“I can’t say I exactly know what that’s like, but I still think the same. You don’t have to be like anyone else. You just have to be yourself.” Kara said thoughtfully before continuing. “And I know who you are. You’re kind, caring, strong... “ Kara trailed off for a second, inhaling slightly. “You’re so beautiful.” Lena’s breath hitched. “You’re nothing like the Titans. You’re everything that they’re not.” Lena’s heart warmed at Kara’s words. 

“You know, no one has ever believed in me like you have,” Lena said, playing with Kara’s fingers. Before deciding to lean up and kiss Kara on the cheek. The blonde blushed, shyly looking away. “Thank you, Kara,” Lena whispered, before stepping out of Kara’s space, the two continuing to walk behind the others in silence. “You know, I used to feel similar to how you are,” Kara said, breaking the silence. Lena looked at her friend curiously. 

“Really?” She asked. And Kara nodded. 

“Zeus wasn’t supposed to have kids. None of the Big Three were. We’re too powerful. Too out of control.” Kara said with a shrug. “After he saved me, which was also basically claiming me too, I grew up with the Danvers, but everyone at Demos treated me like an outcast. Like I was just a ticking time bomb.” Kara said sadly, remembering her teenage years. “Everyone knew I was what would be a considered an illegitimate child in the mortal world. No one ever talked about it. It’s like they pretended I wasn’t there.” Lena listened to Kara, her heart clenching a little bit. 

“I don’t know how. You’re one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met.” Lena said with a small smile. Kara blushed a little bit. 

“I… I’m glad you think so. Because it wasn’t always like that. Sure Alex accepted me as her sister, eventually loved me like she does now. But besides her, I didn’t have any friends until Mon-El came to Demos too. He’s a couple years younger than me, so got here a few years after I did, at around the same age I was. We instantly clicked. Maybe bonding over our families being lost.” Kara said with a shrug. “But he was just as alone as I was. And he was the first one I had met that didn’t treat me like I was something different.” 

“That… sounds horrible.” Lena finally said. Kara just shrugged. 

“When you don’t know anything else, it’s just normal.” The blonde said. “But it’s better now. I’ve still got Mon-El and Alex, but now also Winn, James, Maggie, Lucy, Clark. And you.” The way Kara said ‘you’ made Lena shiver a little bit. Though Lena was happy that Kara was willing to finally open up to her, even if it took her developing problems of her own to do so.

IV.

Once the group had reached the bus station, Lena got them all tickets straight to San Francisco. They all hoped this bus ride went better than the last, and luckily, they didn’t run into any problems. Lena resumed her nap on Kara’s shoulder, with the blonde gazing lovingly at the young halfblood next to her. Alex and Maggie were sitting across from them. Alex had a concerned look on her face as she watched Kara. She knew her sister didn’t love easily. Not like she quite obviously loved Lena. Not in that way. But she was also wary of the newly revealed demititan. She didn’t believe Lena held them any ill will, but she wasn’t the type of person to let a potential risk go unnoticed. 

The bus ride was fairly uneventful and before they knew it, they had arrived in San Francisco. Kara nudged Lena. “Hey, wake up. We’re here.” She whispered. Lena groggily lifted her head from Kara’s shoulder, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. 

“Did I sleep the entire way?” She asked, grabbing her bag and standing up, albeit a little wobbly on her feet from sitting for so long. Kara stood up to steady her. 

“Yeah,” Kara said with a shrug as people started to file off the bus. Lena blinked, still coming out of her sleep state. 

“Sorry, must not have been good company.” She said, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. “You’re a comfy pillow though.” She added. Kara laughed. 

“I’m glad you think so. But don’t worry about it. You’ve been through a lot. You deserve the sleep.” She reassured her friend. “You look really peaceful when you sleep you know?” Kara let slip, not intending to actually voice that though. She instantly shut her mouth, pursing her lips together awkwardly. Lena was quick to soothe Kara’s fears of making things awkward, grabbing her hand and dragging her towards the front of the bus. 

“I wouldn’t know, but thanks. I guess?” She teased and Kara instantly relaxed and allowed herself to be dragged off the bus by Lena. The others had already gotten off and were waiting for the two girls to join them. Mon-El noticed their interlocked hands, giving Kara a suggestive look. Kara just rolled her eyes at him but said nothing. Though noticeably, she didn’t let go of Lena’s hand. 

“Night is coming,” Alex said, looking into the sky, the orange tint of dusk lighting up the sky above them. “We should probably get to Mount Tam quickly.” She urged. She wanted to be done with this quest as soon as possible and out of harm's way. They were truly in the lion’s den now. Lena nodded in agreement. 

“The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go home.” She reasoned. She looked to the West, seeing the mountain and the stone fortress that sat atop it. She had no idea what the humans saw but it was enough to keep them away from the mountain. It had an ominous aura to it, like something evil was lurking just inside. Which Lena supposed was for a good reason. The Titans weren’t exactly benevolent beings. But Lena had been questioning if they were really evil either. It’s not like she could ask her friends. They would all say the same thing. But Hyperion was right about one thing. They were her family, whether she liked it or not. 

V.

Kronos and his brothers sat, once again, at the stone table. “You’d better have good news Hyperion. They’re almost on our doorstep.” Krios growled. Hyperion snarled at his brother. 

“My affairs with my daughter are none of your concern, Krios.” Hyperion hissed. Out of the five brothers, Hyperion and Krios were always at each other's throats for they had the biggest tempers. Only Kronos could get them to stop, as he was the most powerful of the five. 

“Why you would ever have a child with a human is completely beyond me Hyperion. You have Theia. You could have had another fully Titan child. Helios, Selene and Eos were strong Titans.” Krios said. Hyperion almost rolled his eyes. 

“But they are bound by the celestial laws. Subject to the binding power of the Fates. They are as limited as we are. But my youngest daughter is not. Her humanity puts her out of reach of those chains. She is free to carry out our will without limitation. And she is strong. With enough training, she’ll be more than a match for any of the halfbloods and even some of the gods.” Hyperion argued. 

“Hyperion is right. Lena is the weapon I foresaw.” Koios interjected. “His daughter with the power of humanity is the weapon the prophecy spoke of. Zeus thinks that he can harness her power to circumvent it, but he is wrong. His own prejudices will be what pushes her to us. He is sewing his own downfall.” He said, Iapetus nodding in agreement. Krios scoffed. 

“I’ll believe it when I see it Koios. Humans are fickle things, rarely do what you expect. You may think she will join us, but I am not so easily convinced.” The Titan of the South said. 

“She will join us,” Hyperion said confidently. “She has no other choice.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh. This is the penultimate chapter of Ascension! But never fear, the sequel will be coming soon. I'll talk to you guys a bit more about it in the notes of the next chapter. But it'll be a fun story. I'm kind of speeding through Ascension at this point because I'm so excited for the next one. Hence why the pretty much daily updates recently. And the last chapter will be posted tomorrow for sure, since I already have it written. I just want to give you guys some time to absorb this one first. 
> 
> I kind of hate using Alex as sort of the scapegoat to be the one to doubt Lena. Because that's such a stereotypical role for her, and not necessarily in character in some circumstances either. But it'll play a part later and is necessary. And she's currently the only one that can fit that role in the context of the story. 
> 
> It's been kind of weird actually, finishing a multi-chapter like this in under 100k words. Because in the past my full-length multi-chapters have crossed the 100k word threshold. But I suppose since this is part of a series and has always been intended to be a trilogy, it's not that big of a deal. 
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


	19. Choice

I.

As the group approached Mount Tamalpais, they kept to the rocks, stopping when the fortress that was Mount Othrys came into view. Lena pressed her back up against the cold stone. “We need to figure out a plan. It’s not like we can walk right into the castle, undetected and then announce ‘Hey, we’re spying on you!’” She whispered. 

“It’s worth a try.” Mon-El joked before he got a very critical look from Alex, curling up under her gaze. “Just trying to lighten the mood.” He said quietly. Kara peeked over the rock formation. 

“Uh, guys? They don’t have any guards or anything standing watch. Shouldn’t the headquarters of the Titans have at least a door guard?” She asked as the rest of the group looked to the castle. 

“You’re right, they’ve pulled their forces,” Maggie said with a frown. “That doesn’t make any sense. They know we’re coming.” She said. Alex furrowed her brow thoughtfully. 

“Could we… you know, really just walk right in?” Winn questioned. “I mean, they don’t have any guards. I’m sure we could slip in quietly, get the information we need and then leave.” 

“This is a trap,” Alex said. “They’ve purposely pulled back their guards to lull us into a false sense of security. That is the only explanation here.” She said cautiously. “We should retreat and think this through.” 

“That would do no good Alex,” Lena argued. “If we leave and then come back tomorrow, we’ll be walking into the same trap. We know it’s a trap, but can you think of a better plan than to just spring it? They won’t hurt me. I can protect you.” Lena said bitterly, a tone of voice that she had been adopting more frequently over the last couple of days. Alex sighed.

“I don’t like this, Lena. It feels wrong, walking into this blind.” She said. Maggie grabbed her girlfriend’s hand, kissing her on the cheek. 

“We don’t have much of a choice babe. We need to get in there. Our quest won’t be complete until we see it through.” Maggie said. Mon-El nodded in agreement. 

“I’m not afraid. We’ve got each other. We’ve made it this far. Overcome this much. We won’t fail now.” Kara said confidently, trying to inspire the others. Lena smiled at Kara, nodding gratefully. Alex groaned but nodded. 

“Fine. But don’t try to say I didn’t warn you.” She hissed. Lena rolled her eyes but peeked from over the rock formation again. She ducked down and crept out slowly from behind the rocks, towards the castle. Kara was close on her heels, wanting to stay as close to Lena as possible. Winn, Alex, and Maggie followed, with Mon-El followed last, keeping an eye on their backs. 

“C’mon,” Lena hissed, jogging over towards the castle, pressed her body up against the stone wall. Everyone else followed suit, keeping to the shadows as to keep out of sight of any prying eyes. Not that it would do any good with half the monsters that probably were crawling the castle grounds that could see in the dark.  Lena snuck over to one of the side doors, testing the handle, to her surprise, it was unlocked. She supposed that a castle on top of a mountain obscured by the Mist probably didn’t get that many trespassers. Lena beckoned for everyone to follow her as she entered the dark hallway of the castle. 

For the home of beings as evil as the Titans, they had good taste. The castle was decorated with mostly stone and warm woods. Paintings of various monsters and historic events on the walls, decorative tapestries adorning some of the open space. Lena’s wrist started to tingle, but she ignored it. 

They crept through the twists and turns of the passages, their bodies obscured by the shadows. Lena felt Kara reach forward and grab her hand. Lena glanced back, seeing a look of fear cross Kara’s face. She tried to give the blonde an encouraging smile, pulling her along with a reassuring nod. 

Finally, they reached an open area, arched ceilings with a chandelier hanging from a beam overhead. Lena looked around to see no sign of life, so she stepped into the open cautiously. The rest of the halfbloods following her lead. “Where do we go from here?” Mon-El questioned. Alex was about to answer, but before she had the chance, they heard a deep laugh. They group whirled around to see a tall man leaning against one of the pillars that hadn’t been there a second ago. 

The man had cold blue eyes and sandy blonde hair, cut short. The most notable feature he possessed was the helmet he wore, ram horns protruding from the sides. He wore a full suit of gray armor, a golden sword attached to his belt. They all recognized him instantly as a Titan. Maggie pulled her daggers from the sheaths, Mon-El gripping his sword and shield tighter. Alex raised her spear and Kara had her dagger in her hand. Winn reached for his belt. Lena was the only one who didn’t raise a weapon, rather she stared at the Titan in front of her. 

“Put your weapons down halfbloods. If you were meant to be killed, you never would have made it this far. You would already be dead.” He chuckled, but the group kept their guard up, except Lena who stepped toward the Titan. He turned his attention to her. Kara tightened her grip on Lena’s hand, trying to pull her back to the group. “You’re here and alive because Kronos wishes to meet his niece. I wouldn’t keep him waiting. He has quite the temper when he’s made to wait.” 

“We’ll never go with you.” Alex spat. Krios laughed. 

“I don’t think that choice is up to you.” He said, looking down at Lena. Everyone looked at the demititan, expecting her to follow suit, but instead, she nodded to everyone’s surprise. 

“Lena…” Kara whimpered. But she felt Lena’s grip tighten in hers. Krios gave his niece an amused look. 

“It seems that maybe Hyperion was right.” He chuckled. “Follow me.” He said before turning and walking down a lit hallway. Lena made to follow him, Kara in tow as she didn’t want to leave her friend. The rest of the halfbloods looked to Alex, who shrugged. 

“We don’t leave anyone behind.” She said before following Lena and Kara. 

They were all lead to an impressive room, quite obviously the throne room as Kronos sat on a large throne at the head of the room, Hyperion standing to his right, his hands clasped behind his back. Lena’s gaze met her father’s fiery eyes. His eyes bore into her intensely. The doors slammed shut after Mon-El was the last to enter. They all jumped, Alex looked uncomfortably at the now locked doors behind them. 

“Lena… what’s going on?” Kara asked, moving to stand next to her friend. But before Lena had a chance to answer, Kronos interjected. 

“Silence.” He said, a certain power resonating in his deep voice. “We have matters to attend to. And you are going to bear witness to a turning point in history.” He said with an evil smirk. He looked to Hyperion. “Brother.” He said, gesturing to the six halfbloods. Hyperion descended the stairs towards Lena, stopping just in front of her. 

“Are you finally ready to take your place at my side, my daughter?” Lena’s gaze hardened as she looked up into Hyperion’s eyes, frowning at him. As Hyperion’s gaze bore into her, she heard his voice in her head. ‘Your friends will never leave here alive if you don’t. Choose wisely Lena.’ The demititan curled her upper lip up slightly at his words, though the Titan smirked in return. 

“Lena, you can’t be serious.” Alex protested. 

“They’re Titans, they’re evil!” Winn exclaimed. Mon-El and Maggie stayed silent, but their concern was evident on their faces. Kara just tightened her grip on Lena’s hand. 

Kronos, watching the exchanged, waved his hand, forcibly silencing the halfbloods. “This is my niece’s choice halfbloods, You will be silent.” He commanded, sitting back in his chair. The king of the Titans was intrigued at what Hyperion’s daugher would choose. 

Lena had been staring at Hyperion for the last couple of minutes before tearing her gaze from her father’s flaming eyes. She turned back to see a look of fear in everyone’s eyes. On top of that fear, Alex had an angry look, staring directly at Lena, quite obviously directed at her. Maggie and Mon-El looked fearful, but also still had the look of concern on their faces for Lena. And Winn just looked desperate to be free of Kronos’ magic. 

Then Lena looked to her side, at Kara, and saw a completely different look in her eyes to her surprise. Kara, instead of looking afraid, was staring back at her, a wounded look of disappointment in her eyes. That’s what really hit Lena. She lingered on Kara much longer than she had any of the others, staring at her in silence. Kara’s gaze shifted from disappointment to hope as Lena looked at her, got lost in her deep blue eyes. She was sure her feelings were shining through her gaze loud and clear. 

She was jarred out of her trance by a harsh laughter from Hyperion. “What your father would think of you, Kara Danvers.” He chuckled. “A daughter of Zeus falling for the daughter of a Titan.” He scoffed. “Did you really think that a relationship between the two of you would work out? Your father hates our kind. He would never accept such a relationship. He would strike my daughter down without a second thought.” He hissed angrily. Kara turned her attention from Lena to Hyperion, defiantly looking up at him. 

Lena let go of Kara’s hand, reaching up to touch Kara’s cheek, turning her face away from Hyperion’s and turning her attention back to the demititan. Lena stared into Kara’s eyes, seeing the depth of Kara’s true feelings in them. Feelings that Kara never got to properly voice. And maybe would never get the chance. “I’m sorry,” Lena whispered, leaning in slowly. She captured Kara’s lips with hers, kissing the object of her affections for the first time. 

Kissing Kara was all that she ever hoped it would be. Her lips were soft as Kara kissed her back, pressing her lips up against Lena’s lips gently. Kara tasted of rain on a summer night as Lena kissed her. But it wasn’t a happy feeling that filled her stomach. Rather a tight, remorseful clench that gripped at her heart. All too soon, Lena broke their kiss, gazing into Kara’s shocked eyes before stepping back from her love. Turning her gaze to the floor, she walked towards Hyperion to everyone’s protest. Though Kara was frozen in place, unable to move, instead, watching Lena approach her father. “I am.” They all heard Lena say, her voice hard, a tear running down her cheek. 

Kronos sat forward in his chair, chuckling to himself as Hyperion placed a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “It seems I have doubted you, brother. I am sorry.” Krios said, amused at the looks of horror on the faces of all the halfbloods. Hyperion looked triumphantly at Krios before they all heard a clapping from Kronos. 

“Congratulations brother. It seems you were right after all.” He said, rising from his throne, approaching the two. He turned his attention to the five halfbloods. “You know, I should kill you all.” Lena’s eyes shot up in fear. “But I won’t.” The demititan visibly relaxed, her eyes shooting to the floor again, unable to bear looking at her former friends. “It will much more amusing for me to see you struggle to fight the oncoming storm.” He said cruelly. “Run back home and tell my son that I have what he tried to capture. And Olympus will fall. It’s only a matter of time.” He said omonously. “The time of the Titans has returned.” He said, waving his hand and the five halfblood disappeared in the blink of an eye. Lena clenched her jaw tightly. She felt a hand under her chin, lifting her face up to see Hyperion standing in front of her.

“You are finally where you belong, my daughter. Welcome home.” He said, grabbing her right wrist, his mark manifesting on her wrist again. He grabbed it much like the when he had first given it to her, the mark glowing in response to him. Lena felt an agonizing, burning pain shoot through her body, originating on her wrist. She cried out in pain before Hyperion dropped her wrist. Her left hand flew to the aching skin, trying to soothe the pain. When it finally disappeared, she removed her hand. To her horror, she saw her mark was no longer invisible on her wrist, rather burned into her skin, an ever present reminder of her choice. 

Kronos laughed again, putting a hand on Lena’s right shoulder. “You, my niece, will be the key to winning the coming war with the Gods. My son was right to fear you. To try to control you. To manipulate you, try to turn you against us. For you will bring about their doom.” Lena frowned, remaining silent. “They were right to fear the daughter of Hyperion.” He said triumphantly, removing his hand from her shoulder. “Come Hyperion, we have much to discuss. Lena Luthor, welcome home.” He said, walking away toward a side room, Hyperion following closely. Krios unlocked the throne room doors. 

“Feel free to look around I guess. You’re going to be staying us for a little while.” He chuckled, before also leaving the throne room, leaving Lena alone. Lena looked around, her emotions numb. She was now a warrior in a war she never wanted to fight. On a side, she never wanted to a part of. But here she was. She had made her choice. She chose her family over her friends. She ultimately had no other options. Her father had forced her hand. Not only had he threatened to kill him if she did not comply, she did, in part, believe what he had said. Olympus would never accept her. If she helped the gods win this war, she would only be imprisoned with the rest of the Titans. She would never be free of her legacy, no matter what anyone said. So why should she try to pretend otherwise? She was doing what was best for her. 

But Lena touched her lips, she could almost feel Kara’s lips ghosting over her own. She had truly loved Kara. And she knew that wherever Kara was now, she still was fighting for her. Because she knew that Kara also had feelings for her. Maybe not of love because Lena couldn’t know that herself. But Kara had promised her that she would always believe in her. And maybe that would be enough for Lena to cope with her loss. “You can’t save everyone,” Lena whispered to herself, before walking out of the throne room, completely unaware of what was to come next. 

III. 

Kara shot up out of the bed she was laying on. “Lena!” Kara cried out before a hand reached for her shoulder to calm her down. She looked up to see J’onn standing next to the bed, a concerned look in his eyes. “J’onn? We’re back?” She asked and he nodded. 

“Yes, you and the others except Lena Luthor arrived on our front steps a few hours ago. You all had passed out. We brought you here to wait for you to wake up. You were the last one.” He said. Kara looked past him to see Mon-El, Maggie, Alex and Winn sitting in some chairs in their infirmary. “They refused to tell me anything until you woke up. But I gather from Lena’s absence it didn’t go well.” J’onn said grimly. Kara let out a sob, finally allowing herself to break down. 

‘“She… I… Oh Gods.” Kara said, tears rolling down her face. Alex stood up, hurrying over to her sister, pulling her into a tight hug. Kara gripped onto Alex tightly as she cried into her sister’s jacket. 

“What happened Alex?” J’onn asked as Kara was obviously in no place to answer. Alex’s gaze hardened. 

“We lost Lena.” She spat, obviously angry at the young halfblood for hurting her sister with her betrayal. 

“How?” J’onn asked hesitantly. 

“She fell to the Titans. The Lena Luthor we all knew is gone. She was the daughter of Hyperion. She’s betrayed all of us.” Alex said bitterly. Kara sniffed, before lifting her head. 

“No,” Kara said. Everyone’s heads shot to Kara. 

“Kar, you watched her! She’s on their side. She joined her father. She’s one of them. Like I warned you before.” Alex almost yelled. Kara frowned at her sister. 

“No. Lena is still in there somewhere. There had to have been a reason. Something we’re not seeing. But she’s not evil. I know her. She wouldn’t just… betray us like that. Betray me.” Kara insisted. She looked to her friends for support, but they all avoided her gaze. Kara frowned but turned her attention back to J’onn. 

“I believe in her.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tada. Before you all yell at me… well. No. Go ahead and yell at me. 
> 
> Now that you’ve got that out of your system. I promise there was a reason. That you’ll find out in part two. Which I can now tell you the title of and why I’ve been squeeing over it for the last few days. 
> 
> Betrayal. 
> 
> I have always wondered what it would be like if Lena really believed she was subject to just being a Luthor. Despite not wanting to be like them, everyone’s expectations of her is that she will be and/or is. One of the reasons I hate this story in canon is because of the parallel storylines the SG writers are creating for Mon-El, M’gann, and Winn, basically that you are your own person and you’re not subject to the sins of your family. But it is something that has always intrigued me, independent from all of that. And well, since this isn’t canon, it’s something that I really can dig into. Lena is a strong person, don’t get wrong, and you’ll see that play out in Betrayal, but she also has a lot of self-doubt. And self preservation. 
> 
> For those of you that wanted more drama and angst, it’s coming. 
> 
> The official summary for Betrayal is as follows: 
> 
> _Now that Lena has joined her father and the Titans against the Gods, her loyalties made clear. Her betrayal of all she once held dear haunts her every day. But she made her choice and as the war between the Gods and Titans draws near, Lena’s allegiances will be put to the test. Does she help bring about the end of the reign of the Gods? Or will her love for Kara Danvers and the friendships she made along the way be enough to stop the daughter of Hyperion._
> 
> Betrayal starts two years after the end of Ascension, though I will be recapping, briefly, what went on in those two years in the first couple chapters of Betrayal. So don’t worry, you won’t miss anything important. Betrayal should address a few additions that people wanted to see in Ascension, such as a more powerful Kara and more angst. Consider Ascension probably the lightest of what will be the three parts of the series. It’ll get darker and more angst ridden from here. I hope I’ve left you all sufficiently satisfied with Ascension and excited for Betrayal. Let me know. I’d love to hear your thoughts about the first part. 
> 
> Feel free to come scream at me or with me on Tumblr: aeon-wolf.tumblr.com


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